Something must be in the waters of Baltimore. It seems every band based in Charm City seems to have this incredible dream pop sound. It turns out another band I reviewed recently, Lower Dens, is from the area. Do yourself a favor and check them out.
The Maryland-based duo Beach House, with keyboardist/vocalist Victoria Legrand and guitarist Alex Scalley, creates sounds seemingly impossible in size and scope. The group's simple riffs often rise up, growing and stretching toward heights above the clouds.
However, the pair's fourth album, Bloom, serves to be nothing short of ironic. While the melodies are enchantingly beautiful, there is nothing for listeners to do but sit and wait for the 10 songs to have some kind of climax only to be rewarded with sounds that die readily without sprouting any petals.
The result of which is an unrewarding effort. Legrand's wispy voice floats on; Scalley's guitar prowess reminds one of Band of Horses in its reverberation on intimate simplicity. Even so, the general sentimental movement is noticeably missing. While certainly good for meditation, it is not an album designed to keep one's attention. In fact, the more care one takes to decipher the tracks, the more one can see the myriad of repetitions built off of a distinct theme or riff. Pick a song on Bloom, and one can preordain exactly how it will sound in after one minute passes. The result of which is an unchanging, rather banal product. The band, more than efficient in its abilities, cannot piece together songs that either inspire or invoke emotion other than drowsiness.
The only song worth mentioning is "Myth," on which Scalley takes the main riff and overlays chorus-laden solos and bridges while Legrand sings a lush, bellowing vocal. However, on following track "Wild," the listener can figure out the formula used in "Myth" too easily. There is nothing left to do but to wait for the song to be over or to be wowed with a spark of ingenuity. Unfortunately, the spark never comes. This happens another eight times.
As was the case with Silversun Pickups, Beach House is a band with a lot to offer. It's a shame that this offering doesn't demonstrate as such. This is, in a way, more detrimental than it is for Silversun Pickups, which is a group that at least throws a change-up now and then. Without something to shock the listeners out of their dream-pop stupors, they're going to fall asleep before the album plays its way through.
For Your Consideration: "Myth."
For Next Time: Great. So Nas's new album isn't coming out until July. How about the new one from that b-hole John Mayer? That sounds good.
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