Mr. Gnome exploits the ends of the volume spectrum as an attempt at musical depth and fails in a way that makes you wonder if you're about to have a heart attack. While Meister can keep a beat and throw in a creative fill every so often, the kid would benefit heavily from realizing the middle of the road is what creates a dynamic soundscape, not abrupt and unsettling transitions between "hi-hat" and "loud".
The act is almost salvaged by the penetrating voice of Barille, a young woman with unblemished control over her pitch and a vocal timbre that resonates in all the right places within the listener. Her tone encompasses the richness of Bjork's (minus the obnoxious quarter-tone bullshit she's laced into every album since Homogenic), with a choppy, attitude-driven bent a la Nelly Furtado's first record.
Unfortunately, a having an exceptional singer is not even close to cutting it for this Cleveland, Ohio band. One could assume Barille is trying to tank a potential career with the "indie cred" disease (an ailment reminiscent of Chicago's own Rachael Yamagata) by pressuring a strong, unique, and captivating voice into awkward and unpleasant song structure.
If Barille were to drop the guitar, swap out her drummer, and listen to a couple Diane Warren tunes, she'd easily become a promising talent in pop music and likely be snapped up by the first label willing to shelve her debut solo record.
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2 comments:
Cool site! I know how it is to have a drummer that sucks... the one guy that was in Exploding Dinosaurs (chickened out of the band btw) didn't know how to come up with drum fills, so he would just stop playing where the fill was supposed to be. retarded. my next band is going to be improv grindcore, and the drummer is actually good enough to pull it off, and I thrive in uncontrolled situations so I think we will be good.
Dear intoxiwhozit,
I see that most of these reviews complain about how the music is too loud. Maybe you should review CDs in the comfort of your own home. Also you might be old.
Good luck hipster-humping
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