Wholly disappointing
M. Nock | England | 01/05/2005
(2 out of 5 stars)
"Wholly disappointing
I bought this album on the basis of a free CD I got from a music magazine in the UK which had a B-side track of InMe's on - which sounded pretty good, nice heavy guitars, combinations of gravel voice and falsetto melodies making me think there's a great deal of potential in this new band.
On actually listening to the album, all potential was ruined, I was (and still am) massively disappointed.
I don't want to sound pompous, but I think it'd be an interesting show to see along with these glowing reviews also the age of the reviewer. I doubt very much any of these 4 & 5 star accounts come from anyone over 16. If like me you're in your mid to late 20's, you've been through the joy of sitting in your room in the dark listening to Pearl Jam being a mopey teenager and so songs with lyrics like "I could cry, my time has come and I am stupid and forever sad" just evoke a cringing response which is an instant embarrassing turn off.
The album gives the impression it's more of an advert for the bands Boss pedal collection then any mark of thoughtful song writing, I've not analysed it, but I'm sure in some songs there's guitar parts for 5-6 different effects pedals. Instead of giving the effect of having a multi layered interesting track, it just sounds like he's showing off what he had for Christmas "well I've just got Flanger Mk II... may as well use it".
You could replace the title of any track with "Teenage angst" and it'd still make perfect sense. You write from your experiences, granted, although if your experiences constitute being dumped for the 1st time and working in a shoe shop at the weekend I'd rather not hear it."
Track Listings (15) - Disc #1