Welcome to another edition of CD Impressions, the bi-weekly feature at JPP that allows the music writers to offer brief opinions and critiques on recent albums. This time, we present another good, bad and ugly selection of releases, including the latest LPs from Eyes Set to Kill, the Fruit Bats, Endless Hallway, Third Eye Blind and Tartufi.
Autonomy Games Artist: Endless Hallway Label: Wind-Up Release Date: 28/04/09 7 out of 10
There’s something refreshing about the LA-based band Endless Hallway’s debut album, Autonomy Games. Though you probably wouldn’t know it by listening to either of the album’s first two singles “Solvency” or “Cell,” which both play out like pretty run-of-the-mill post-grunge influenced alternative rock, Autonomy Games does have enough moments to make Endless Hallway sound more like a uniquely dynamic and refreshingly breezy act rather than a rehashed afterthought. Vocalist Ryan Jackson’s ranging vocal is the band’s main focal point, and you won’t hear many complaints from me in that department. Switching between dreamy ballads and fire-lit rockers, Jackson takes command of every song whether they’re worth our time to listen to or not. The song “Solvency” is a perfect example, beginning with a fierce, hard hitting intro filled with Jackson 's commanding voice, the song soon settles down into a dream-like bridge and finally returns to a round of screeching guitars and pounding percussion. It’s not the most original track on the album, but it’s carried by Jackson ’s solid performance. The album sounds the best though when it explores more colorful and pleasant textures. Songs like the album highlights “Remora” and “Gamma” float along in dream-like splendor, putting less emphasis on the middling guitar work of other tracks and letting the precisely crafted soundcapes take hold of the wheel. Autonomy Games may not win any awards in the originality department, but Endless Hallway has at least given fans of radio friendly alternative rock a much needed breath of fresh air. (Tyler Barlass)
The Ruminant Band Artist: The Fruit Bats Label: Sub Pop Release Date: 04/08/09 7 out of 10
“Slight” is typically a criticism, suggesting that one’s music is faint and forgettable, but while some less complacent ears may translate The Ruminant Band as being slight to the brain, they’re not entirely wrong—it’s slightly catchy, slightly warm, slightly rewarding, slightly wonderful. But “slight” is the appropriate descriptor since this album’s treasures aren’t gold and gems, but tokens of wistful joy that’ll strike any other as mere knick knack—not to be prized, necessarily, but you dare not bury it in a box headed for the garage. Though occasionally serious and bleak, the general tone of this album is breezy folk pop, sandwiched somewhere between the soothing sounds of 70s AM nuggets and the “slight” sound of the rest of Sub Pop’s genteel personnel—especially Iron & Wine and the Shins, the latter of which is where frontman (and sole consistent member) Eric Johnson has been spending his time for the last few years. Over waves of summery guitars, Americana hang-ups and (mostly) the purity of innocence, Johnson and company trace a safe but satisfying trek that aches ever-so-gently even when the tone is all smiles. Obvious highlights like the bright folk rock title track, the sweet country sting of “The Hobo Girl,” the upbeat, Elton John-esque “My Unusual Friend,” and the relaxed finale “Flamingo” are worth investing interest; even some of the less memorable numbers simply flit by with passive hospitality. “Slight” as it is, I imagine it’s difficult to summon a passionate dedication to this disc, but no one can outright hate it—its ease at mood elevation ensures that even the negative would sound like grumpy quibbles at worst. (Matt Medlock)
The World Outside Artist: Eyes Set to Kill Label: Breaksilence Records Release Date: 02/06/09 4 out of 10
Eyes Set To Kill, a post-hardcore band with roots in Tempe, Arizona, dropped their second studio effort this summer with The World Outside. Like several other bands that have hit the airwaves in recent years, Eyes Set To Kill look to set themselves apart by their use of both a male and a female vocalist. However, where bands like Shiny Toy Guns (even with their vocalist change) have achieved success and acclaim by melding male and female vocals into one cohesive rocking album, Eyes Set To Kill cannot hold their ground. Neither vocalist Alexia Rodriguez nor Brandon Anderson has the talent to carry the band by themselves. This might give one hope that when combined, the two could perhaps complement each other in the areas in which they lack. I was hoping the album would give Rodriguez more of a chance to show her skills. As if reading my mind, the vocals on the title track, “The World Outside,” are handled solely by Rodriguez. It’s a far better song than most of the album, but I feel that she has more to offer than what she’s presenting in Eyes Set To Kill. Her vocals are more well-rounded on “Come Home,” but the song sounds more like a Rihanna-ripoff than a metal ballad. Which is why I believe this would be the most obvious single for the band to kickstart their career. It has a One Republic one-hit-wonder kind of appeal. Don’t get me wrong; the album isn’t horrible by any means. It just offers nothing to make it stand out from the slew of bands out there presenting the same melody/screamo combination. The instrumentals are decent enough, but again, reveal no hidden talents lurking in the band. And, there is certainly not enough talent for there to be two solely instrumental tracks on the album. (Holly Hargrave)
Nests of Waves and Wire Artist: Tartufi Label: Southern Records Release Date: 19/05/09 8 out of 10
With the shrillness (but not the yelp) of Isaac Brock and the twirling harmonies of Polyphonic Spree applied to the vocals, the mouth of Tartufi would sound applicable to the famous (loved and loathed) brand of the anthemic and orgiastic power-indie cult. But rather than providing a surplus to arcing melody, the fractured yet cinematic approach to these seemingly unfocused but internally taut musical epics (seven songs at 55 minutes) allows for an interesting complement—as the vocals soar overhead, the grind underneath is leavened, risen to tidal waves of crashing sound ripped out sporadically for glittering keys and quaint melodies. This is music of the maze variety—even after four listens, I am unable to predict how any of the three 8-plus minute tracks will wind their way to the end.
Vaguely describing Nests of Waves and Wire as Doug Martsch meets Animal Collective ain’t that accurate, but it might put some asses in the seats. Composed of just two musicians (Lynne Angel and Brian Gorman), the structures yield to no rule of pop music and the sound and density wavers between softly intricate and mountainous, but always busy, even when you hear the breaths between notes sigh. With lush and vibrating acoustic guitars forming the bedrock and rough, rolling rhythms guiding the momentum, there are the occasional lulls, but even they serve a purpose through dynamic—the next bit of massive sound comes with extra thunder. And then there are times when the thunder you expect doesn’t land, emphasizing this album’s perfectly plotted but capricious nature (about 2:45 into “Fear of Tall Giraffes, Fear of Some Birds”—talk about pulling the rug out!). That this group started out as a power pop band might be alarming considering the unconventional progressions, but if that was a warm up to exhausting the potential, so be it. Sprawling but rarely indulgent, Nests fascinates and excites even as you wheeze trying to keep up. (Matt Medlock)
Ursa Major Artist: Third Eye Blind Label: Mega Collider Release Date: 17/08/09 3 out of 10
It’s been ten years since Blue, my last foray with Third Eye Blind. Ursa Major is only the second album from the band since then, but I’m not sensing a lot of time spent on the road and in the studio working on material. The nostalgia factor with their debut album has confounded me in that decade span—I still insist that their self-titled album is fairly good, even better when considering its fairly derivative style, but I can make no intellectual argument for such a position. Likewise, roughly half of Blue is marginally decent or better. Maybe those ten years were rough or maybe 3eb has simply strayed; either way, Ursa Major is just another 90s success story suffering terribly from a new millennium hangover.
As it was on Third Eye Blind, the radio fodder is the least compelling stuff; unlike that first record, this radio fodder can’t even manage passable. The exploding riff of tepid first single “Don’t Believe a Word” sounds like Tom Petty simply venting frustration with his guitar; the tempo/style fragments within don’t mesh nicely, and at least one segment is egregiously bad. The second single, “Bonfire,” begins with a weary tropical acoustica melody that couldn’t sound more artificial (the fact that it sounds like the sort of song that "that lame guy you know" could “invent” sitting around a beach party bonfire makes it even more irritating). Elsewhere, semi-ballads like “Why Can’t You Be,” “One in Ten” and “Sharp Knife” are completely lifeless. The pseudo raps scattered about (especially on the tiresome “Summer Town”) aren’t embarrassingly bad, but they’re consistently limp and unnecessary. Only leadoff “Can You Take Me” has any spark whatsoever and it’s still pretty generic. Coupling lyrics that land with a clank and thud with boring arrangements saves nothing else. Almost entirely inoffensive, but actually entirely forgettable, this is edgeless rock pablum. (Matt Medlock)
