Album Review - Tanlines: Mixed Emotions

Tanlines: Mixed Emotions

Posted on 19 March 2012 by Bowlegs

Tanlines? simple bass-lines and chanted rhythmic choruses leave us a little cold. Their music is a nice fit ? major melodies, minimal backing and not overbearing in any way. But it fails to stir us. Maybe it?s merely that there?s nothing much to offend here. There also the faintest whiff of Christian rock ? lovely young men who are helpful and who carry the bags back from the car when mom returns with the shopping. And who can?t fail to hear the influence of ska punk in the singing style ? there are a lot of ?yay-oh? type choruses that will go down well live no doubt. It grates.

The potential of Green Grass to be a memorable song is clearly there, but what if the chorus had been backed by more twisted wiry feedback or detuning synths? Maybe that would have pushed the wistful into bittersweet. What if? What if?

Elsewhere they mine the soft 80s AOR vibe and this is probably where the balance of elements works best. Tracks like Abby, Laughing or Not the Same conjure images of empty nightclubs, streets at dawn and toy with the emotions that exist at the margins of your day. But where the wheels really come off is on Lost Somewhere, which lifts lines from I Know There?s an Answer by the Beach Boys. We finally decided to listen to the whole album through a guitar distortion pedal ? it was easy, we were in the studio ? and it sounded a whole lot better for it (note to mastering engineer).

You know, there?s a good line in the Bill Withers documentary Still Bill. He said that some people will only ever be average and that?s fine, as long as they realise. This is so-so alt pop, a nice bit of background sound with a cup of coffee and two biscuits. But if Tanlines want to evade arrest by the music police we suggest they solicit a little more solid upset, anger and sexual frustration.

-Julian Tardo-

Source: http://www.bowlegsmusic.com/2012/03/tanlines-mixed-emotions/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tanlines-mixed-emotions

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