Fairweather,Lusitania
Reviewed by f*v
This CD is titled after a ship that sank. It has the expected, standard formula for an emo/pop record:
1. Element of tragedy – see title;
2. Derivative opener (seriously, that’s the name of the first track…this isn’t lost on them);
3. Music in the vein of, well, you know, the usual influences. Plaintive vocals half Enigk, half Carrabba;
4. One long song title, “I dread the time when your mouth begins to call me hunter”; one song about a place (“Alaska”); one song about a letter (“Letter of Intent”).
Bonus Points go to the record for the fact that J. Robbins produced it.
While a good number of the songs follow the usual formula (both slow and fast versions), Fairweather manages to occasionally wander outside the confines of the predictable. “I dread the time when your mouth begins to call me hunter,” for example, boasts a dirty dirty riff and a wall of feedback (think Starflyer 59 or even Pink Floyd) hedged around a quiet ballad, an out of place but impressive track. The overwhelming majority of the album, however, displays a talented band uncomfortable with the notion of exploration and originality, contenting kids who incorporate “emo” into their screen names and email addresses but lacking identity and interest outside of that. One more album like this and they’ll be forced to change their name to The Fairweather Plan/Conspiracy/Theory (you choose the ending).