Review:

on 2011-06-29 CharlesMartel Said:

When the history of the post punk revival is finally written, this album will probably be recognised as one of the early highlights. The Canadian bands seem to have pretty much led the way in the first half of the first decade of the revival and made the trend their own. The Stills were probably the leaders of the pack at this point. This album has all the qualities of good post punk: it is dark and melancholy with occasionally optimistic flashes; the guitars are stark and stand out; the vocals do not dominate; and the rhythm section provides the solid basis for the whole band.

Its influences are obvious. Imagine a cross between the Smiths and Catherine Wheel but without the ingenuity and the appeal of either. Then think of this as the bastard half brother of Interpol and you are beginning to come close to where the Stills are coming from. But in truth, though the derivations are there, the band does not carry them off as well as it might in order to make real impact. I really liked this when I first heard it but the more I listened to it the more I felt it was lacking something. Originality maybe, oomph (that indefinable quality which defies description) definitely. But above all it seems to lack a real focus.

It is hard to explain, but look at in terms of three of the albums tracks - "Lola Stars and Stripes", "Alison Krauss" and "Changes Are No Good". The first is a song which seems to be bursting to convey some sort of political message but in the end does not manage to spit it out in any coherent or recognisable form. The second, the best song on the album, has to take a massive departure in style to achieve that, and the third reiterates the age old theme of boy meets girl against a backdrop of an unchanging world, no matter how much an outward appearance of change there may be. Three tracks might as well be from three different bands - certainly that goes for "Alison Krauss" - but lacks enduring focus on any issue or theme which might otherwise hold the album together.

The album does not get a higher rating for quite a few good reasons. The first is that there appears to be no standout track, the one which grabs you and draws you into the album - a prerequisite in my view to being able to give any album the widest appreciation. "Alison Krauss" comes closest to that but is too different from pretty much all of the other tracks to link into them. The second is that, in my opinion, there is too much of a derivative streak running through this. "Yesterday Never Tomorrows" is one example. It has too much of the Smiths about it, and that hook line on the keyboard is so reminiscent of tracks by The Organ that it seems out of place on this album. The third reason is that there is a strand of placid clam, relief without joy, if you know what I mean. Too many of the other tracks on the album are good without providing anything spectacular. It would be truest to describe "Logic Will Break Your Heart" as not a bankable one.

Nonetheless, this is overall something worth giving a listen and one which will be on the iPod for a long time to come. For a revival to take off it needs to develop its own direction. This album shows what can be done with a bit of ingenuity. It is a pity they did not use more of that ingenuity on more of the tracks. Whether this album grows on me the more I play it is something only time will tell.
Rating: 6/10