fall back open
‘Fall Back Open? has taken a while to absorb. Its lackadaisical layers wander aimlessly throughout the course of the records.
Clichxefxbfxbd yet most appropriate words: sweeping soundscapes, singular, auspicious.
Now It?s Overhead?s most recent Saddle Creek debut speaks of sounds from about a half-decade passed. The album is filled with mid-90?s Thrill Jockey-style sounds. The clicking, shiftless guitars sound like they may have been pulled directly from a Tortoise of Sea and Cake record.
The spaced-out vocals present some form for the song to exist in but the most literal of the instruments used is the drums. The songs? drumbeats are a bit more straightforward and aggressive than everything else to the album but, it seems, the reason for this is to give the rest of the band a structure from which they can easily depart.
The best guitar work and worst backing vocal appearance collide with Michael Stipe?s guest appearance on the track ?Antidote.? The opening ?forked-tongue venom? line clashes horribly against the dynamics of the song. It leaves a bad taste.
As for the remainder of the album, it is a strong, consistent effort from this powerhouse of a band. ?Antidote,? with the help of one of rock?s most successful artists, ironically, is the weakest of the tracks.
?Fall Back Open,? the prodigious title track, on the other hand, is the band?s strongest showing. It doesn?t hurt that this song features the assistance of Conor Oberst.
Straight across the board, this is a strong sophomore Saddle-Creek release from the label?s only non-Omaha-based bands.
Leave a Reply