There was VERY little released this week as a new recording. I had to search. And between Ashley Tisdale, J'Kwon, George Thorogood and something I've never heard of; I'm going to be listening to something I've never heard of. Even if it is synthpop and I just read a negative review of it.
First things first... I hear a sugary-sweet synth riff to a simple dance beat that reminds me of hearing the Human League at the Water Bowl in the summertime of Muncie when I was a kid. The first line of the first song: "Please take a long hard look through your textbook 'cause I'm history" tells me I'm going to be old and grizzled to get through this whole thing. But I press on.
Now, in vast contrast to the other electronic album I just recently heard by Son Lux, this guy loves his lyrics. He's actually very wordy. But this can be a bad thing too. We're mostly treated to teenage romance fluff like "I am the bird. You are the worm/We are made for each other" or "I'd rather pick flowers instead of fights". Other times, we get nonsense adult(?) things like "Hello Seattle, I am a mountaineer/I fall asleep in hospital parking lots and awake in your mouth" (Someone will have to explain that shit to me) Also- "It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep 'cause everything is never as it seems." (What does that mean?) Not to mention - "If speed's a pro, inertia must be a con 'cause the cold wind blows at precise rates when I've got my ice skates on"
The entire song "Dental Care" for example, leads in sounding like a clever-for-kids metaphor for having a positive outlook on life- and then just devolves into a trip to the fucking dentist.
It's all one-man synthesizer and vocoder. This Adam fella has a voice that sounds like a poppIER Ben Gibbard, all Cher-like and vocoded. What amazes me most about the project is that it's apparently huge and I've never heard a thing about him. A search of Owl City on youtube has just under 8,400 results. A search for "Sammy Hagar" has 2,500. I may have found somewhat of an answer when I got to the end of the record. "Tidal Wave" is a hugely optimistic, vaguely Christian tune that may have got some audience rallying around in those circles. And yes, that could totally exist in big numbers outside of my radar.
My point: your pre-teen will love this. It'll annoy you, but it will make her think that there are dreamy sensitive boys out there, which will make the prospect of falling in love that much easier to accomplish. As for me, I'm too old and grizzled for this. (1.5 of 5 stars)
First things first... I hear a sugary-sweet synth riff to a simple dance beat that reminds me of hearing the Human League at the Water Bowl in the summertime of Muncie when I was a kid. The first line of the first song: "Please take a long hard look through your textbook 'cause I'm history" tells me I'm going to be old and grizzled to get through this whole thing. But I press on.
Now, in vast contrast to the other electronic album I just recently heard by Son Lux, this guy loves his lyrics. He's actually very wordy. But this can be a bad thing too. We're mostly treated to teenage romance fluff like "I am the bird. You are the worm/We are made for each other" or "I'd rather pick flowers instead of fights". Other times, we get nonsense adult(?) things like "Hello Seattle, I am a mountaineer/I fall asleep in hospital parking lots and awake in your mouth" (Someone will have to explain that shit to me) Also- "It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep 'cause everything is never as it seems." (What does that mean?) Not to mention - "If speed's a pro, inertia must be a con 'cause the cold wind blows at precise rates when I've got my ice skates on"
The entire song "Dental Care" for example, leads in sounding like a clever-for-kids metaphor for having a positive outlook on life- and then just devolves into a trip to the fucking dentist.
It's all one-man synthesizer and vocoder. This Adam fella has a voice that sounds like a poppIER Ben Gibbard, all Cher-like and vocoded. What amazes me most about the project is that it's apparently huge and I've never heard a thing about him. A search of Owl City on youtube has just under 8,400 results. A search for "Sammy Hagar" has 2,500. I may have found somewhat of an answer when I got to the end of the record. "Tidal Wave" is a hugely optimistic, vaguely Christian tune that may have got some audience rallying around in those circles. And yes, that could totally exist in big numbers outside of my radar.
My point: your pre-teen will love this. It'll annoy you, but it will make her think that there are dreamy sensitive boys out there, which will make the prospect of falling in love that much easier to accomplish. As for me, I'm too old and grizzled for this. (1.5 of 5 stars)
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