Finally some emo/indie rock that's actually pretty good crosses my path! This is solid material that's not overly simple or poppy, nor is it too dramatic or jangly or anything like that. It's fairly catchy and memorable, but it's not poppy to me. They've got a heavy sort of edge going on, and of course they mix clean guitars with distorted guitars, but the rhythm section is really strong, there's a lot of interaction and layering between instruments, etc. And the singing is nice as well, because it's not whiny, nor is it too screamy... it gets more aggressive at times, but almost never sheds melody of some sort. "The Curse (The Gift Of...)" is slower and slightly more rocked out in a strange way, with light distortion over some of the vocals, definitely a darker and more powerful track as a whole. The brief piano and programmed drums alongside quiet reverberated vocals and subtle noise of "Transparent" is useless in my opinion though, sort of breaking the flow of the record... The opening track of the CD was similar but less annoying due to its placement, but really both of these little snippets should've been omitted. There are a few bland "real" songs as well, but nothing that really gets to me. Most of the songs that are on the bland side tend to use programmed drums for little spurts that don't really feel necessary to me... coming off as experimentation just for the sake of it, when in actuality live drums would've worked better (see "In This Serenade"). The production could stand to be slightly brighter, but it sounds really good. The drums are totally dense and natural, the bass is in good shape, the guitars are dry and crisp, and the vocals are mixed in pretty nicely. Sometimes the singing steps to the front slightly, but not enough to be a distraction from the big picture. The layout's alright. The inner sleeve is all black and white with some band photos and the lyrics (the lyrics are pretty abstract and don't hit me one way or another), and the outer sleeve is full color and has some snapshots of a woman putting makeup on and getting dressed, and the photos are scattered amongst jewelry and drug paraphernalia. All in all, not bad. I'd definitely be into hearing what this band does next, because they've got a lot working in their favor here. If this was a 25-minute EP of the five or six best songs it would be awesome.
[Fidelity]
Running time - 40:22, Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: Welcome to the Conversation, The Curse (The Gift Of...), Joining the Club]
Fidelity Records - http://www.fidelityrecords.net
