Track Listing

1. Many Funereals
2. Invasion
3. Taking Control
4. Go Away
5. I Could Be There For You
6. Come Clean
7. Ten Cent Blues
8. A Sight to Behold
9. Combinations
10. If You're Wondering

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42018 in Music
• Released on: 2007-08-14
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
The great thing about Eisley's follow-up to 2005's Room Noises is not just that it's a crystalline, polished piece of pop craft, but that it still manages to feel personal. The DuPree sisters have conjured another blizzard of vocal harmony, and made it sound like something they could do in their sleep. But here it floats over music that is both sturdy and whimsical. Still quite young (Sherri is 23, Stacy is 18), the sisters and their assorted family members (all five members of the band are related) have improved on the occasional blandness that compromised Noises. Combinations is still over-produced and would profit from a few more rough edges, but the guitars are a little crunchier and the music sounds weightier. Less content to exist as backgrounds for the DuPrees' lovely voices, the structures of songs like "I Could Be There for You" stay fresh and unpredictable after more than a few listens. And yet there's no fat here, with no track exceeding four minutes. That economy of sound helps Eisley get a lot of range on a song like "Taking Control," which opens with a gorgeous verse, shifts into a blink-and-you'll-miss-it bridge and--bam!--we're onto the chorus. The whole thing takes exactly 26 seconds. It's a little scary how young they are relative to their songwriting chops. Listening to Eisley is fun now, but even more fun when you consider their through-the-roof potential. --Matthew Cooke

Customer Reviews

Like cheese and crackers
When most people hear the name Eisley, they'll probably think about Mr. Biggs and Ernie. No, it's not that soulful duo; while THIS band is also consisted of relatives (three sisters, one brother and one cousin), they strictly deal with indie pop. I don't remember where I heard of them, but I have to say that I do enjoy their second album, Combinations.

Standouts include "Ten Cent Blues", "I Could Be There for You", and "If You're Wondering". And "A Sight to Behold" is just that. In fact, the only song that I can really do without is the opening track, "Many Funerals", because the production on it is pretty disorganized (well, during the chorus, anyway). Combinations deviates a tad from the norm, but it's still worth picking up.

Anthony Rupert

A contemporary take on classic sounds
It sounds like Carpenters meet Bangles meet Evanescence. I don't mean it in a bad way, but simply as a descriptive one. It's got a great sound and good vocal arrangements, but despite this it lacks a signature song that takes the album forward. Good for studying or while fixing things around the house.

Eisley wastes no time moving beyond its fluffy debut.
Eisley wastes no time moving beyond its fluffy debut. "Many Funerals" opens Combinations with soaring, minor-key vocals, a pounding cut-time riff, and a decidedly dark subject. The subsequent tracks are equally strong, with driving drums, back-scratching piano breaks, and the siblings' signature cascading harmonies. Witness "A Sight to Behold" - the Corrs could take a few lessons here on how to layer vocals without losing the rock edge. Stacy, Chantelle, Sherri, Weston, and Garron DuPree may be young, but Eisley is no Hannah Montana wanna-be. Fans of Fleetwood Mac, Yes, the Corrs, and the Raspberries will find a haven here.