michaelgneardc

For all of its flaws, the last Bleachers album was at least fun and bouncy. This one is just boring! At its absolute peak, on the song "you and forever," the band sounds like an Arcade Fire ripoff, and it's almost listenable, and at its worst, it's annoyingly bland. It is really sad that this is what a lot of people get exposed to as "Heartland Rock" because, just no, it's not.

With how happy this project starts out - three love songs in a row! - I was really worried it was going to be saccharine and too poppy for its own good. Nope, it's sad and folky even through the syrup. It does sometimes slip up lyrically and metaphorically, but, generally, the feelings are there, and they're real. "Audrey Hepburn" and "If You Let Me," a duet with Marcus Mumford, are the two songs I continually come back to.

This album suffers from the same problem as so many of its dark and moody brethren. Since the music is rather sparce behind the brooding, post-punk vocals, when Tim Darcy does not go a bit harder in his vocals, this album becomes really boring. But on tracks where the vocals get interesting and modulated, like on the first track, "Forced Position," this album really hits.

The fact that this record owes more to The Beach Boys than The Beatles is a major plus in my mind. To say a modern neo psychedelic band is evolving into more experimental territory is weird, but that's what seems to be happening here with more echoey goodness. "2 or 3" is one of the simpler songs on the album, but it's probably the most catchy.