It's not so much that this album is lo-fi – I don't have any issues with a lack of access to kit defining a band's sound, and similarly, as a fan of The Fall and early Pavement, I can take rough – but there's something fundamentally frustrating about 'Open Heart'.
Ordinarily I'd find the bargain-basement production values endearing, especially as there's an earthiness, a sincerity about the songs. Well, most of them, at least. What's nigglesome is the feeling that there's something unfinished about the album. The songs are played in a rough and ready way, which wouldn't be an issue if this didn't impinge on their delicate nature.
Then there's the frequent falling to wordless sections of lyrics, sometimes in rather incongruous places. A 'na na na' chorus is annoying enough, but when the second half of a verse populated with lyrics descends into a mumblefest and a succession of na na nas I find myself thinking that they're just being lazy sods who couldn't be arsed to finish writing the words. Not that all of the words are up to much: again, poignant moments are marred by clunkers or lines of throwaway flippancy that completely undermines the mood that they've created. Sloppy.
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Sad Sad Bicycle On-line
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