Local Review: The Eleventh Door – Venusian Gap

The Eleventh Door
Venusian Gap

Hail Atlantis
Street: 01.01
The Eleventh Door = Cool Ghouls + Beach House

Local, funky duo The Eleventh Door—Catalina Gallegos and Rocky Maldonado—have released their debut EP, Venusian Gap. “Venusian” means “relating to or characteristic of the planet Venus,” which is quite fitting. The EP is a quintessential indie rock album, swimming through “the other world” of spacey dream pop and shoegazing. In just four tracks (with a fifth, downloadable bonus track on theeleventhdoor.bandcamp.com), Venusian Gap doesn’t feel short-lived—instead, it’s packed with funky sonic melodies and dynamic multi-instrumental layers.

The EP opens with “Tellement Tendresse,” a dreamy, sweet-sounding French ballad, sung by Gallegos. The title means “so much tenderness,” which is representative of the song: perfectly paced, trading off between acoustic strums, drumming and high notes on the electric guitar. The instrumentals often outweigh the vocals, which are overlaid with distorted sounds and textures, a staple of dream pop songs.

The title track is more electric-driven, beginning with electric riffs and subtle percussions, which dramatically strike and pause between note shifts. Maldonado croons in a distant yet forefront manner while Gallegos simultaneously hums in high pitches and lush tones in the background. Somehow, this track seems completely obscure yet familiar with staple instrumental loops and sporadic distortions.

“Song for Johnny” and “Fever Dream” are slower-paced tracks, with a greater kick drumming emphasis and slower movements between high notes and distortions on the electric guitar. “Fever Dream” is more instrumentally focused, but when Maldonado does sing—accompanied by Gallegos’ high-note ooh’s and ahh’s—the lyrics are more easily made out than on any other track, yet still distant and obscured.

From vocal and instrumental distortion to overwhelming volume and vibrant musical displays, The Eleventh Door delve into classic elements of dream pop and indie rock while creating a unique combination all their own. They pull listeners into a world of instrumental complexity and aesthetic simplicity, setting the bar high for what’s to come. –Lizz Corrigan