If I heard this without knowing the artist, I never would've guessed that this was the Broken West. Their last album was full of future power pop classics, but that sound seems to have mostly been discarded. They've exchanged the hook driven and punchy riff and harmony structure for a more laid back approach to melodic pop. It's still catchy, just mellower. Some of the songs remind me of British pop bands like Travis, especially "Embassy Row". Luckily, they still write some great songs, "Perfect Games" for example. "Gwen, Now And Then", "Terror For Two" and "Ambuscade" are also good. Overall, I don't think they quite hit the highs of the top singles off their last album, but power pop can grow stagnant and this new direction sounds promising.
September 16, 2008
The Broken West - Now Or Heaven (2008)
If I heard this without knowing the artist, I never would've guessed that this was the Broken West. Their last album was full of future power pop classics, but that sound seems to have mostly been discarded. They've exchanged the hook driven and punchy riff and harmony structure for a more laid back approach to melodic pop. It's still catchy, just mellower. Some of the songs remind me of British pop bands like Travis, especially "Embassy Row". Luckily, they still write some great songs, "Perfect Games" for example. "Gwen, Now And Then", "Terror For Two" and "Ambuscade" are also good. Overall, I don't think they quite hit the highs of the top singles off their last album, but power pop can grow stagnant and this new direction sounds promising.
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1 Comments:
That album art is utterly uninspired! I feel like some bands just don't even bother trying to be creative. Eh.
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