Label: Equal Vision Records
The album title, The Valley, refers to the recent hardships endured by the members of the band. One of the DuPree sisters had a failed marriage. The band faced an uncertain future after leaving their record label. With this in mind, I was expecting an album filled with desperation and melancholy.
The lyrics, as expected, are melancholy. They sing of heartbreak, disappointment, and pain. This is all well and good, but this music has a decidedly happy sound. The tunes are poppy and infectious, and the production is polished and crisp. The result is an album where there is a mismatch between the music's tone and that of the lyrics–and unfortunately, it's not done in a way that leads you to believe they're just being ironic. The Valley is ultimately a failure; while every song is listenable, I can't help but think this is maybe just a notch above your typical white suburban female pop punk (think Paramore). Nothing here grabs me and says, "Hey, you gotta listen to this again."
The first clue something is wrong is that the longest track is only a minute longer than the shortest. Tolerable, but uninteresting.
Tracklist:
| 1 | The Valley | 3:20 |
| 2 | Smarter | 3:18 |
| 3 | Watch It Die | 3:09 |
| 4 | Sad | 3:19 |
| 5 | Oxygen Mask | 3:25 |
| 6 | Better Love | 3:20 |
| 7 | I Wish | 3:54 |
| 8 | Kind | 3:07 |
| 9 | Mr. Moon | 3:53 |
| 10 | Please | 3:33 |
| 11 | Ambulance | 4:04 |
★☆☆☆
I've been digging the track "Ambulance" for about a year. I'm curious to hear the rest of the album, but based on their other stuff I doubt I'll love it.
ReplyDeleteI think Ambulance was my favorite track. There were a couple of other decent tracks, but most of it seems somewhat disposable. I do like how they saved the best track for last.
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