Posted: 4th March 2008
11 (B)
Best Song: Tripping
1. Leaving Look 2. Tripping 3. Rescue Me 4. Never Let You Down 5. All I Care About 6. The One 7. Falling Pins 8. Pictures 9. Astronaut 10. Escape 11. Consciousness
Now this is a charming little album! Nope, it's not a masterpiece, or a major work of art. It probably won't make you cool or credible for liking it. It most likely won't kick or shake your ass, nor free or blow your mind. And I doubt it would shake your mind, and hopefully won't blow your ass, either.
But it is a nice, enjoyable album of solid, well-written power-pop songs. Songs filled with the usual power-pop stylings: sweet melodies and harmonies, upbeat tempos, distorted electric guitars and some acoustic guitars as well. It's nicely produced, too. At times it tends to lean more towards the "pop" side of things, and can feel a little lightweight, which you may find off-putting. But y'know what? I really like this album: I think it's a simple pleasure, and a decent way to spend forty-one minutes. I can think of plenty of worse things to do with your time. Like attempting to trim your toenails with your teeth, watching a Madonna movie marathon, or writing those goddamn Gelbison reviews.
I also think a fair bit of hard work and effort has been spent in crafting this album. For starters, the album flows really well, something I always like. Leaving Look, despite the "about to be dumped" subject matter, is a lovely, upbeat song and opens the album fantastically. It's also cool how the song transforms the slightly jarring intro chords into a wonderful pop melody. Lotsa neat harmonies, too! And that's the tone for the first half of the album: upbeat, catchy pop songs. But travel further into the album, and the mood darkens and becomes whole lot less cheery. Songs about suicide (Falling Pins), busted relationships (Pictures) and isolation (Escape) appear, and the album ends with the druggy, dreary Consiousness, which just wallows in defeat and exhaustion.
The songs themselves also have a level of craft about them: some are better than others, but in general, they're all pretty good. Yet, I wouldn't say there's any dead-set great songs either. There's no songs that I can recommend you sell a kidney for if you needed extra cash to buy the album. Nope, it's just good, solid songwriting throughout. The only charge I could throw at the songs are that some tend to be... well, a tad sappy or a bit overwrought. Some of the lyrics really bug me! Rescue Me is the biggest offender: there's some shockingly wussy lyrics there ("fall into my loving arms and share the air I breathe" Whoo! That's kick ass!). And The One is amusingly psuedo-symphonic and overblown, which is also a bit of a laugh. But hey, these songs sound really good anyway; there's neat hooks and harmonies, and I'll forgive / ignore the overly "sensitive" lyrics when they appear, and occasionally snicker at The One's slightly cheesy orchestration. It's all good.
Okay, I'd best highlight a few songs. Aside from the excellent Leaving Look, there's Tripping, which is apparently about being a band in Melbourne. It's my favourite song on the album: fast-paced, catchy, lotsa fun, and it finishes before the three minute mark. No wasted time! I'm also fond of Never Let You Down, which despite the sorta cutesy lyrics packs a nice chorus hook, and in the second half, some lovely jangle guitar too. Then on the darker side of the album... of note are the two angst-filled "epics" that make up the centrepiece of the album. Falling Pins comes first: with a sorta wordy chorus, and also some nice guitar bendiness in the middle. Neato. Pictures is even better: big chorus, interesting breakdown halfway through, and a lengthy outro with lots of twiddly guitar lines. Well constructed song, I tells you. Last of all, Astronaut is extremely nice, a sweet ballad-esque track that shines a little light into the darkness, with a wondeful sweeping chorus.
And that's it really. Just solid songwriting. Hmm... there's that phrase again. Gotta use me thesaurus. Anyway, it's quite possible that I'm overrating this album: after all, I'm predisposed to liking this kind of music. Part of me suspects that it should really only be a 10 (B-). But I feel the consistency and level of craft involved in this album, as well as the frequent enjoyment I get from it justifies an 11 (B). And that's my final answer.
But it is a nice, enjoyable album of solid, well-written power-pop songs. Songs filled with the usual power-pop stylings: sweet melodies and harmonies, upbeat tempos, distorted electric guitars and some acoustic guitars as well. It's nicely produced, too. At times it tends to lean more towards the "pop" side of things, and can feel a little lightweight, which you may find off-putting. But y'know what? I really like this album: I think it's a simple pleasure, and a decent way to spend forty-one minutes. I can think of plenty of worse things to do with your time. Like attempting to trim your toenails with your teeth, watching a Madonna movie marathon, or writing those goddamn Gelbison reviews.
I also think a fair bit of hard work and effort has been spent in crafting this album. For starters, the album flows really well, something I always like. Leaving Look, despite the "about to be dumped" subject matter, is a lovely, upbeat song and opens the album fantastically. It's also cool how the song transforms the slightly jarring intro chords into a wonderful pop melody. Lotsa neat harmonies, too! And that's the tone for the first half of the album: upbeat, catchy pop songs. But travel further into the album, and the mood darkens and becomes whole lot less cheery. Songs about suicide (Falling Pins), busted relationships (Pictures) and isolation (Escape) appear, and the album ends with the druggy, dreary Consiousness, which just wallows in defeat and exhaustion.
The songs themselves also have a level of craft about them: some are better than others, but in general, they're all pretty good. Yet, I wouldn't say there's any dead-set great songs either. There's no songs that I can recommend you sell a kidney for if you needed extra cash to buy the album. Nope, it's just good, solid songwriting throughout. The only charge I could throw at the songs are that some tend to be... well, a tad sappy or a bit overwrought. Some of the lyrics really bug me! Rescue Me is the biggest offender: there's some shockingly wussy lyrics there ("fall into my loving arms and share the air I breathe" Whoo! That's kick ass!). And The One is amusingly psuedo-symphonic and overblown, which is also a bit of a laugh. But hey, these songs sound really good anyway; there's neat hooks and harmonies, and I'll forgive / ignore the overly "sensitive" lyrics when they appear, and occasionally snicker at The One's slightly cheesy orchestration. It's all good.
Okay, I'd best highlight a few songs. Aside from the excellent Leaving Look, there's Tripping, which is apparently about being a band in Melbourne. It's my favourite song on the album: fast-paced, catchy, lotsa fun, and it finishes before the three minute mark. No wasted time! I'm also fond of Never Let You Down, which despite the sorta cutesy lyrics packs a nice chorus hook, and in the second half, some lovely jangle guitar too. Then on the darker side of the album... of note are the two angst-filled "epics" that make up the centrepiece of the album. Falling Pins comes first: with a sorta wordy chorus, and also some nice guitar bendiness in the middle. Neato. Pictures is even better: big chorus, interesting breakdown halfway through, and a lengthy outro with lots of twiddly guitar lines. Well constructed song, I tells you. Last of all, Astronaut is extremely nice, a sweet ballad-esque track that shines a little light into the darkness, with a wondeful sweeping chorus.
And that's it really. Just solid songwriting. Hmm... there's that phrase again. Gotta use me thesaurus. Anyway, it's quite possible that I'm overrating this album: after all, I'm predisposed to liking this kind of music. Part of me suspects that it should really only be a 10 (B-). But I feel the consistency and level of craft involved in this album, as well as the frequent enjoyment I get from it justifies an 11 (B). And that's my final answer.