Some times I really just don't get Sub Pop. They've made some greatsignings in recent years, the best of which being The Shins, butsometimes you have to wonder what they see in some bands. That'sexactly what I thought when I first heard Beachwood Sparks, and I thinkit even more now. Another fragile-voiced, country-tinged rock band withmediocre imagery as the major tenet to their songs. The harmonies arefine, but not enough to carry the songs to airy heights. In fact,there's not much about this EP that is particularly memorable or worthyof praise. It's pretty uninspiring. On "Make the Cowboy Robots Cry,"the Sparks stretch their legs a little bit, performing some of theirmost experimental music yet. And it's all over the damn place. Thecenter piece is, of course, the fragile vocals, but now there is agreater emphasis placed on the instrumentation, and on sampled momentsof rhythm and strings. There are moments of brilliance, but they'remostly due to the guests on the release, as much as I can tell. ChrisGunst was apparently quite inspired by his work with Jimmy Tamborelloon the DNTEL release, so he invited Tamborello to appear here as aproducer/side man, and Mia Doi Todd is along for the ride, as well. Hercontribution, on 'Ponce de Leon Blues' gives that song a hauntingbeauty, and when she and Gunst sing together, there is a bit ofpromise. Maybe for the next DNTEL release. But not for BeachwoodSparks, sadly. The last song, 'Ghost Dance 1492', is just plain awful.In spreading their wings and trying out some new elements and sounds,and tweaking their base sound in the process, Beachwood Sparks havetried to apply this same energy in their songwriting, and they'vemuddied the water. If they'd applied these elements to their usualstyle of songwriting, the results might have been more awe-inspiring.Instead, we're left with this hint of what is to come on futureBeachwood Sparks music. And what will that bring? Hopefully somethingmore coherent.
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