it sounds like a bad music school experiment
Check the last song first! That’s never a good thing to read on a record publicity sticker. Sadly, it’s not a good thing here either because your worst fears are soon realized. The last song, Camera Lens, is really good, the kind of short, sharp US indie rock the record label are telling you this band are supposed to sound like and, to be fair, the penultimate track – Dark Bathrooms – not only has a great title but lasts for over 7 minutes and doesn’t outstay its welcome at all. Sadly, however, that’s far too little too way fucking late as the first eight tracks are the kind of crappy US indie rock you really don’t want this band to sound like and the singer sounds like he’s going to throw up every five seconds. Remember that guy from the Crash Test Dummies? Mmm Mmm. Well, this guy sounds like that, only more squeaky.
I’m a big fan of shoe-gazing indie kids playing guitars, but even though this lot add a glockenspiel into the mix – on track one, no less – it sounds like a bad music school experiment and the rest of the time the band just sound utterly, utterly bored whilst that whiny, squeaky voice whines and squeaks all around them.
Credit where credit’s due, the last two songs are good, in fact they’re great. But please, be careful if you decide to step into these waters. It’s not very pleasant for a while.
Words: Damian Leslie