The Album Review Club - Week #191 (page 1286) - Harlequin Dream - Boy & Bear

Really enjoyable, with clear traces of theie love for the Velvet Underground. As I said earlier, I could almost hear Lou Reed in 2-3 of the tracks.
They all seem so simply put together, the lo-fi feel (for me) was enjoyable and fitted with the whole package. I dont think the musicianship was any more special than my offering from last week, but it was really good fun.
I think due to the length of the album I have given this the most listens of any other selection, with it never getting boring. It's getting an 8 from the Derry jury.
 
I've had two listens. As others have suggested it's quite a toe tapper if you don't pay attention to it. Unfortunately, when you do pay attention, you realise that it all rolls into one. It's an album that was cool to like when it came out, much like Enya, Paul Simon or Tracey Chapman, but on future listens falls apart.

And then we get to that live video. Which puts the lo-fi album to shame. The songs still do their rolling thing but with a bit more pizazz. A bit more energy. A bit more not trying to be cool.

I asked a couple of mates about this album over the weekend. They both consume music with a passion. Both remember it. Both bought it. Both listened to it again. Both came to the same conclusion as me.

Trying to sound cool but ultimately failing.

4/10
 
BimboBob said:
I've had two listens. As others have suggested it's quite a toe tapper if you don't pay attention to it. Unfortunately, when you do pay attention, you realise that it all rolls into one. It's an album that was cool to like when it came out, much like Enya, Paul Simon or Tracey Chapman, but on future listens falls apart.

And then we get to that live video. Which puts the lo-fi album to shame. The songs still do their rolling thing but with a bit more pizazz. A bit more energy. A bit more not trying to be cool.

I asked a couple of mates about this album over the weekend. They both consume music with a passion. Both remember it. Both bought it. Both listened to it again. Both came to the same conclusion as me.

Trying to sound cool but ultimately failing.

4/10
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Boom! Welcome back, BimboBob.
 
Pretty basic stuff bigged up by vacuous journalists from idiotic publications like Vogue and GQ.

But enough about their hair, what about the music?

Well the irony is that despite all the pretentious guff written about them the music itself is anything but pretentious. It's not massively sophisticated nor is it, as far as I can tell, intended to be but it is well executed and they make a pleasing very cohesive sound. At times it borders on a minimalist approach which I quite enjoy. If it feels a bit like the tracks are actually just passages from one long song then that's ok because overall it's a decent song and it doesn't outstay it's welcome. The nice interplay between the band members is probably what elevates it from what it is on paper.

The cynic in me says if you are that committed to a back to basics authentic sound you can get yourself on eBay and buy half a dozen used SM57s rather than go to all the trouble of signing with RCA. But you can't blame them for wanting to earn a bit of wonga too and anyway eBay probably didn't exist when this came out. The quirky production doesn't particularly bother me and I actually quite like it at times with the exception of how they chose to record Casablanca's vocals. I don't know if it was being pretentious or whether deliberately sticking his voice through crappy equipment was designed to disguise/distract from any vocal limitations. Either way it was unnecessary because having had a quick listen to some of theirs/his other work though he might have some limitations it's nothing that stops him being a good front man.

To me though, that is the only real misstep on an album that is very easy to enjoy. I liked it enough to give a couple of their contemporaries a relisten to see if my memory was being overly harsh. All that did really was confirm that this album was worthy of the praise it got at the time. Something like 'Turn On The Bright Lights' sounds like self important tosh whereas 'Is This It' sounds like mates having a good time.

7.5/10
 
BlueHammer85 said:
Except it didn’t fail.
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To my ears it did. Which is the point of this thread surely?

Just because it was apparently a cool album to buy and like when it came out doesn't make it cool. Along with Chapman, Simon and Enya, this was a dinner party album. Background music for the hard of hearing or caring. Nothing jumps out. It all blurs into one. You can eat your fair trade vegan middle class offering whilst tapping your feet listening to Giles bang on about "options" without getting offended.

And I don't have to like it. I tried. I listened to Teen Mortgage's vinyl after it. Short, low on production. Not trying to sound cool. Just an album full of short songs, banged out with aplomb. And a splash of genuine anger.

Something that The Strokes lacks.
 
BimboBob said:
I've had two listens. As others have suggested it's quite a toe tapper if you don't pay attention to it. Unfortunately, when you do pay attention, you realise that it all rolls into one. It's an album that was cool to like when it came out, much like Enya, Paul Simon or Tracey Chapman, but on future listens falls apart.

And then we get to that live video. Which puts the lo-fi album to shame. The songs still do their rolling thing but with a bit more pizazz. A bit more energy. A bit more not trying to be cool.

I asked a couple of mates about this album over the weekend. They both consume music with a passion. Both remember it. Both bought it. Both listened to it again. Both came to the same conclusion as me.

Trying to sound cool but ultimately failing.

4/10
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A interesting review ruined by the utterly laughable notion that anyone ever thought Enya was “cool.”

Also the entire point of my review was that I liked it for it and had no idea anyone thought it was cool. But to each his own!
 
BimboBob said:
To my ears it did. Which is the point of this thread surely?

Just because it was apparently a cool album to buy and like when it came out doesn't make it cool. Along with Chapman, Simon and Enya, this was a dinner party album. Background music for the hard of hearing or caring. Nothing jumps out. It all blurs into one. You can eat your fair trade vegan middle class offering whilst tapping your feet listening to Giles bang on about "options" without getting offended.

And I don't have to like it. I tried. I listened to Teen Mortgage's vinyl after it. Short, low on production. Not trying to sound cool. Just an album full of short songs, banged out with aplomb. And a splash of genuine anger.

Something that The Strokes lacks.
Click to expand...

fair enough, I took it literally that you were suggesting they tried to be cool and failed.
 
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