the rhumb line (ra ra riot)
I like these guys. Sweet, melodic, instrumentally versatile/driven indie pop music. Much of their catalogue reminds me of Matt Pond P.A.- the tenderness, the melodies, the strings, the tenderly intense tone.
I kindof sensed something, which I did not like, but I'll confess that it didn't strike me as worth mentioning until I checked the avclub's review of this album… The first song, "Ghost Under Rocks," really sets a magnificent, soaring, urgent tone that the rest of the record simply doesn't live up to. That first track is the one that made me want to hear the album- just a passionate, searching, divine song. And the next several songs are just so, milky.
Most of the album is melodically pleasant, as I mentioned. There are three tracks, all nearer the end of the cd- after there's some time to recuperate from the post-Ghost disappointment- that really soar and hit me in a great way. "Too Too Too Fast" is driven with a really nice, vintage synth and distinctly expressive, unleashed singing; "Suspended in Gaffa" is similarly driven by magnificent, ceremonial percussion- there's an elegantly dramatic forcefulness to this song that I am really into. It sounds like a more delicate variation of something Queen would do. "Run My Mouth" finds a lovely cello/guitar melodic interplay that matches my favorite Matt Pond P.A. work.
Four great songs, and the rest is pretty pleasant, if forgettable, background music. A really nice album.
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