Day One

Leaving my Hilltop Hoods review to slowly begin to resent me, I move onto a review of a different kind of album. How is it different? Because I know (as of now) nothing. Give me one moment with Wikipedia...

Okay, summing up a summary, this is the first album from Western Australian group Birds Of Tokyo. Released in 2007, my copy of the album (thanks to my local library) looks like it survived the brunt of the nineties. Oh well.

Firstly, because no-one asked, I have nothing against Birds Of Tokyo. I don't believe they deserve anywhere near the amount of popularity they have, but they're better than a lot of other mainstream bands with about the same sized fanbase. Anyway, Day One.

1. Black Sheets
A good opening to the album. A slow but good beat, decent vocals and an all-round decent song. It kind of sounds like a mix between Blur and Ball Park Music, and I'm willing to make a substantial monetary bet that no-one has made that comparison to anything ever (dear God, did I just issue a challenge on the internet? What have I done?). Anyway, this song isn't remarkable in any way, but it is far from unpleasant. A quick note on Birds Of Tokyo songs: They are those songs you hear on the radio and ask yourself "Hmmm, is that song good enough for me to find out the artist?" Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Basically they are filler songs. This is not as bad an insult as it may seem. These songs manage to stand with some of my favourite songs without me thinking that they are incredibly out of place. They just seem to be unremarkable songs. I'm sure there is probably a way in which that is marketable, but it really seems like a lose-lose situation for them and their potential fanbase.

2. Off Kilter.
Sounds a little Fallout Boy, Off Kilter is okay at best. The main thing about Fallout Boy's music is that there seems to be an allround "meh" grade song with one redeeming 10 seconds of music, despite the rest of the song being rather dull. This is a great tactic for roping people in and making people think they like the song more than they actually do (for example, you may find yourself singing the song when you didn't really enjoy it. You may start to think you enjoy the entire song because of only a tiny part). For some people, that may be all you need to enjoy a song. Good for you, you have my envy. I, however, am an SOB with depressingly high-standards. Upon conclusion of the song, I have to say it ends up better than I thought it would. It has at least 30 seconds of good music.

3. Minor War.
Firstly, a very interesting title. Secondly, I'm starting to think that the one constant on this album will be decent voclas. There are better but there are also much worse. I'm happy with what these guys are giving. Okay, this song is okay too, but I regret putting any effort into trying to take in the lyrics. They seem disjointed, utterly randomly placed and just put in there to try to say something. This tactic often works much better when the music drowns out the singer. Huh. Suddenly I understand a large portion of the music produced in the 90's. Drown out the singer when you couldn't write lyrics. Sad, but probably marketable. Anyway, Minor War isn't bad and has the best vocals so far, but the fact I could hear the lyrics and they made no sense ticks me off. Sure, they had the theme of "I'm going to war to save you" (which raises several questions in itself) but all the lines seem like they either cut a hell of a lot out or just couldn't be bothered. I don't really care either way, but it does detract from the whole album, at least in my opinion (which is, if anybody recalls the previous title of the blog, is the entire point of me wasting my time writing. To give people just another opinion. Enjoy it.)

4. Violet
A touch of Coldplay, a touch of (insert any indie rock act with a male vocalist) and you have this song. I think I can sum up the entire lyrics with the chorus line (one line? Jesus...) "You take my breath away. Again". Cliche-tastic.Dear god. The lyrics really are starting to grate. Seriously, there is a section of the song which is " You take my bre- my bre- my breae-" x3. Was there a writers strike in Western Australian music in 2007? Depressingly, I'm starting to see why these guys have a large fanbase. (Screw you Blogger! How is fanbase not a word?) The less effort you put in and the more clichéd you are, the better you sell. I'm going to go cry now, because that started as a joke but is far too accurate for both my tase and for any sentence which comes out of my mouth/keyboard. Oh, there's a song, isn't there? After repeating that one line 1..2....3.....4...5...6...7 more times before being a lovely kind of silent that my pause button can impose. Oh, and there is a very Coldplay-esque something solo. My ability to identify instruments would seem to be failing me, but that would imply I had any talent in that particular field in the first place.

5. Wayside
Okay, I actually know this song. Grinspoon meets John Butler Trio in a decent way, yet again with nonsensical lyrics which would make even the Cat Empire proud. A good beat, good vocals and a decent amount of raw talent (in everything but lyrics) made this song pretty damn popular and I can't even fault it for being so. Hell, I like this song and that is a hell of an accomplishment for an album I ordered from the library on the theory "Well, The John Butler Trio is from Fremantle. So are these guys". At least they're better than Ben Harber, but so is silence. Best song so far.

6. Desperate
First thing first. There is a bit too much electric guitar for my taste. In fact, it ruins the entire song for me. I think that is the first time I have been able to pin-point why I don't like the song to one single fact, although I make no promises to like the song without the electric guitar. Anyway, the lyrics on this track are the best so far (a fact which in itself nearly brings me to tears) but otherwise just is general filler. As a side point, I must say kudos to the group for actually trying something different with the excessive electric guitar. Sure, in my opinion it didn't work out, but the one thing worse than making bad music is making decent but formulaic music. Speaking of which, Mumford & Sons new album is going to come out soon. Hopefully it won't combine both: making formulaic music which sucks. That is a really bad sign.

7. Like Rain
Okay, seriously, what the hell is with those lyrics? They make sense on a really basic level, the kind it takes a lobotomy to acquire, but it sounds like someone took every second line from a poem. Sure, you can kind of get what they are getting at but any tact or wit is removed completely. This sog is like that. Some other song however seem to be more like someone took the second lines from a series of different poems. By different authors. In different time periods. In different languages. I should really stop picking on the lyrics but A. This really irritaes me and B. There isn't much to pick on about this band and just writing how much I love an album is really not as much fun to read or write. I remember writing my revied of Future Shades. Anyway, this song is OK, it tries to have several different styles in one song, which is interesting and innovative (meaning it won't be released as a single) but yat again it doesn't work. In their defence, it is a debut album and it's pretty well developed as such. I've heard some really bad debut albums/EPs. If anyone wants an example, listen to Blow Up by The Presets. The sme group would go on to make the iconic techno album Apocalypso, which ranks among my favourite Australian albums of all time. Seriously, they get better from Blow Up.

8. Get Out
I have 202 witty (a debatable description)comments on this title, had the album been worse. As it is, this is getting near the closing stretch of the album. This is the first song off this album I am certain I have never heard before, and I have no idea why. Lyrics make as little sense as possible whilst actually bing in english. The only thing I can say about this song is that it doesn't work. There are many reasons for this. To sum it up: The vocals don't seem to match the music. This may sond strange, but it makes sense when you actually hear the song. In fact, the main problem is that the vocals and the music seem completely unrelated. Seriously, that seems to be the main problem. There are other things, but I think these are more specific to me and while this entire blog is about my opinion, I like to at least maintain the illusion I'm not trying to alienate people. I just have a natural talent for it. Anyway, the song is so far the worst on the album.

9. Eduardo
If I was more caring, I would cut and paste the last line from the previous song and paste it right here. Do it internally people. I'm lazy! Anyway, this song has music which sounds like it was done by a metal group, the vocals are at a low-point and for my own sanity, I pretended they were speaking a different language to save my sanity from their lyrics. At least the goddamn thing ends eventually.

10. Rest Here My Brother
With a title like that, I fear lyrics which are going to attempt to sound deep. Luckily, they produce voclas which sound like they would have matched with the music of the previous song. The low point is that the song sounds like a mess of sound no-one had the heart to cut from the album. The high point is that I don't have to listen to their god-awful lyrics, minus the chorus. Crap, spoke too soon.  My poor, poor, overused sanity. I think Thesauruses have produced more meaningful lyrics. One more song to go. Man, this album is getting worse the further it goes. Maybe I should just end it here.

11. Are You Sure You're Alive?
After listening to the previous song, I honestly don't think so. Or perhaps that is just wishful thinking. The last song. Thank you, Xenu! Okay, first thing. The lyrics are difficult to listen to. I mean that in both ways: The singer makes it a struggle to hear his lyrics. Normally, such a struggle is rewarded with some semblance of a story or at least depth. Instead I am punished for my attempts. I won't make the same mistake again. The stupidity of the title of the song should give some idea of the downright nonsensical slant of the lyrics. Overall, the vocals are decent but the music is a touch too metal for my taste, which seems to be a recurring problem for me on this album. I do realize this a very personal taste, but hell, these are just my opinions after all.

Final opinion: If you obtain this album in any way, don't listen to it. No, that's not fair. Listen to it at such a low volume that you can only hear the beat and not the lyrics. Also, only bother listening to the first half. These tips will protect your sanity. LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES....and goodnight.