When I listen to this, I’m reminded heavily of the sort of pysch lounge perfected by The High Llamas and Stereolab. That’s not a bad thing. If you’re going to pick a sound to mine, why not choose something everyone will enjoy. For the most part, this is an enjoyable if not entirely original album.
“You will never know why” revolves around ambient pop and shoegaze. “Acting” starts out smoothly before revving up and slowing down. Really the slower, mellower parts are the better pieces of their album. For me, their attempts at urgency fall flat. There are many bands who do fast music well, I figure they should probably stay within their comfort zone. When “Acting” quickens up, I sort of wish they’d get back to the spaced-out sounds offered in the beginning or the end. Oddly, they kill their own mood for no discernible reason.
The rest of the album passes by pleasantly enough. After a while I grow a bit sick at the lack of sonic diversity. Sure, I’m a fan of minimalism but they use the same beats and patterns over and over again. I wish they had perhaps varied things up a little bit in terms of the sound and kept the tempos a bit lower. Together both of those minor tweaks might have made me a bit more receptive towards this album.
As a result, I’m a bit lukewarm to this collection of songs. Spending a whole hour with this San Francisco based band wasn’t horrible but merely uneventful. Had I seen more songs like “Acting” I could see myself enjoying it a lot more.