Categories : Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 3/5 Released: May 1, 2007 Reviewer: Nathan Atnikov |
The boys of Wolf Parade have been busy lately, which of course doesn’t mean that there’s a new Wolf Parade album on the horizon. Rather, the first offering from their camp is Frog Eyes’ Tears of the Valedictorian. Frog Eyes are a self-contained band that doesn’t deserve the label of ‘side project.’ Tears is their fourth album, and surprisingly their most accessible to date. Of course, accessibility is in the eye of the beholder in this case, as vocalist Carey Mercer rambles incoherently through much of the album.
Musically, Tears is attacked by Frog Eyes as much as it is composed. The energy is frantic and the guitars, drums and keyboards (provided by the aforementioned Wolf Parade’s Spencer Krug) are stacked high like so much furniture against a door, trying desperately to keep intruders out. There are more subdued moments here, like the acoustic ‘The Policy Merchant,’ but if it weren’t for the inclusion of a lyric sheet, you’d never know that Mercer was singing, “He gathers all of the urchins up in their filthy tearaways.â€
In many ways, Tears of the Valedictorian is captivating. In just as many ways, though, it’s frustrating. The debate will rage about whether or not the album’s standoffish nature is either artistic or exclusionary, and it might well be both. Ultimately, Tears is as difficult to praise as it is to discard.
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