No one can tell you better than I the trials and tribulations of being a music-hungry Floridian. I don't want to dish the local “music scene,” but chances are if you're good, you're gone; either that or you're hiding out in your tin shed studio waiting to be discovered. On that note, Electric President, churning out idiosyncratic melodies and deviating all statehood preconceptions, suggest a reason for hope. This affinity has carried on for nearly a decade, but only in recently has their intimate echo permeated the northern reaches of the country, beyond a few devotees and a mass of oblivious listeners tuning in to certain episodes of The O.C.. Regardless of fame or lack thereof, I'm not afraid to confess Electric President as my favorite Floridian export, excluding our exquisite OJ, of course.

The Violent Blue reaches the same touching depths found throughout the group’s previous efforts, but achieves illumination with greater stability. The common, lazy comparison to the Postal Service finds zero backing here, where shoegaze plays the distorted lead, broadened with a heavy helping of electro-pop, coalescing into atypical melodies. As has always been the case, Ben Cooper leads the way with his unrelenting prose; as one of the most poignant lyricists around. There is little consensus as to which of Electric President's three records is the best. I've never been one to choose favorites; I'm the indecisive father who says he loves all his children equally and unconditionally; secretly speaking ill of the others when alone with one. It's upon you to decide. The Violent Blue may be the youngest, but with its innocent charm, heart-on-sleeve lyrics, and overall cohesiveness, it's tough not to see it as an arching favorite.

The sandy bottomed “The Ocean Floor” floats with effortless down-tempo. Lovely nuances of sliding acoustics and lines of crystal piano drift alongside Cooper's melancholic croon. Loneliness floods and anticipation builds, since, with Electric President, the first track is almost always a buildup to those that follow it. Next, “Mr. Gone“ is driven by the same piano, stiffened with a creaking quality. Halfway, Cooper spills some of the most affective lyrics around, and with them, an ephemeral shift in tempo. After it recedes, “Safe and Sound” swells with emotion as the undoubted highlight of The Violent Blue, and quite possibly, of their entire discography. “But there's no way out/ I'll let you build your home with me until the clocks run down,” cycles through your thoughts as you wait for the verse to splash once more against the mixture of organic and synthetic sounds. This is what one comes to Electric President looking for, and it leaves you breathless: "When there's no way out/Call me and I will come to bury you, all safe and sound."

Finishing off the astonishingly solid first half, “Feathers” and “Nightmare No. 5 or 6” swoop in with textures of shoegaze and folk. Never mutually exclusive, Cooper's dreamy, yet haunting vocals infuse seamless with the dreary guitar. “Elegant Disasters” drives more so than any with intricate percussion. Cooper follows suit with ebb and flow delivery, while a lone guitar drones in the background between movements. The synth heavy “Eat Shit and Die” – lovely, I know – sounds off with a conglomeration of dissonance, the densest so far, and the only track to evince its place of recording. The second half may not be as powerful as the first, but it's not to be pushed over before it’s finished.

The lengthy finale, “All the Distant Ships” finishes strong, clocking in just over eight minutes. With its breaking waves of distortion, it is surely the take away shoegaze track of the record, or so it seems in the song’s first few minutes. Then the turbulence suddenly mellows, and Cooper, emotionally driving, takes the reins. In time, a happy medium breaks out with distortion and softness colliding beautifully. Finally things close, Cooper repeating “well this is where we are” in catharsis. “All the Distant Ships”: An epic. A Greek tragedy. A true finish, if I've ever seen one. The Violent Blue makes me thankful we're privileged enough to receive something so down-to-earth, so introspective, here locally. Fortunately for the rest of the world, one doesn’t have to be in the Sunshine State to enjoy it.

Track List:
1. The Ocean Floor
2. Mr. Gone
3. Safe and Sound
4. Feathers
5. Nightmare No. 5 or 6
6. The Violent Blue
7. Circles
8. Elegant Disasters
9. Eat Shit and Die
10. All the Distant Ships