Review: Strange “Things in Night” CD

No thanks. Is it literally "strange", you ask? Sure, I guess, but it also basically stinks. It's weird, hipster, indie-ish, retro 80's rock with spacey sci-fi/new wave synths and warbled monotone singing/yelling or whatever, with plenty of English influences, and despite some almost nice atmospheres that hint at a few pretty dark musical undertones, the songwriting itself is weak and I don't particularly care for it at all. Most of the songs top five minutes, some more than seven or nine, and it just drags on endlessly. With no keyboards and a better vocalist it might be good, as the core instruments seem to have some promise, but they're so clouded by dense, overpowering keyboards and distracting vocals. I like the force of the rhythm section, which adds an unusual sort of heaviness to the material, and some of the noisy/droning guitar textures are tolerable, but... while I can listen it, I'm not one of the people who "get it", you know? I mean, what's with the horns? They only cloud matters even more, making no sense at all and bothering me more than the damn keyboards. I mean, shit, I actually kind of like a handful of the "retro" bands currently making the rounds in the "mainstream" that are hitting on this sort of vibe, but... despite sparse moments of enjoyment this disc isn't working. The recording is super dense and kind of raw and has a sort of dark new wave thing going on, similar to what the music conveys, so it makes sense. I'm not bothered by that. The vocals are distant and the music very dense and cohesive, not really clear at all, but it sounds alright. If the songs were to my liking I wouldn't complain about the sound quality I don't think. I don't care for the layout on this thing at all, though. It's definitely strange, which fits the band name, but it's also rather unattractive, using bright reddish colors as its common bond, but with everything looking inconsistent nonetheless. No lyrics are included, and much of the text seems barely blurry, so it's just an odd looking package that does little for me. I've gotta pass on this one. I'll be mildly generous with the number rating because there are a handful of cool musical passages, but... I'm not feelin' this.