Get Here and Stay
They've definitely smoothed out some of the
rough edges on this album compared to their debut. Like the
transition of Built to Spill
from ramshackle indie rockers to splendid indie dream popsters,
these guys have filled out their sound, made it more lush and
flowing and toned down some of the vocal emoting from their
beginnings. This is the rainy Northwest sitting around farmhouse
kitchen tables in low-top Converse with a newspaper and a song
in your heart. The music is somber without being dreary (or
slow), and manages to elicit the emotion they were going for
in their first album without resorting to screeching or theatrics.
The songs swell and ebb and make for a perfect soundscape for
a bad day. |
Nobody Knows This Is Everywhere
Funny enough, these guys actually pepped
up for their swan song. They took elements of all their previous
albums and threw them into this one. They changed up some tempos
and the lead singer came out of his shell and emoted a little
more like the old days. These are the best hooks and immediate
melodies they've written, and of course it's the last of their
career as a band. They've always been shelled as a BTS
imitator (and deservedly so), but they've dialed back some of
that influence on this one and brought the fire. Instead of
ever song being all lush and strummy, they've stripped some
down, moving into the deep sea wall of sound on the choruses
and then moving in and out of looser instrumentation on the
verses. This is their strongest album by quite a bit, and it
figures they'd go and break up afterwards. I hate to lose a
guitar rock band (there are so few left) in their prime. Oh
well. |
Salt Sinks & Sugar Floats
[Amazon]
This album does sound suspiciously like a
Built to Spill outtakes record.
Maybe we can blame it on the Pacific Northwest, or maybe too
many hours listening to their heroes. Whatever the case, this
debut doesn't go a long way to proving that a record full of
shambling emo-like rambling can turn into solid songwriting
and catchy hooks, but just wait a couple records and you'll
see. This is their "feeling-'em-out" record. |
Weekends of Sound
They've amped up the musicianship on this
one. The basslines have become more snaking, the time signatures
a little more diverse and the song structures more complicated.
It's not that they've strayed far from their niche, of course,
but the songs just seem more full of life and melody. "Without
Fire" is a good example of the flow of the album, with
its feel of the cold ocean and the rocky shores of Seattle.
Their songs, as usual, don't sound a whole lot different from
track to track, but it's not a problem, as their albums are
always taken better as a whole, rather than on a song by song
basis. They inflict a mood—a melancholy mood—but what is the
point of music if not to elicit some sort of emotion from the
listener? |
Musical Connections:
The Magic
Magicians
|
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