Say Hello To Sunshine - Finch

...much success. That is to say - its crap.

When you listen to this CD, you begin feeling really excited, and this is amplified by the first few tracks, but as the album continues to play, you sort of find yourself muttering amongst the mess of repetitive music and shouting "it's going to get better, for sure". I'll tell you for free it doesn't.

Wrapping up this review here, I really wish this CD could have ...
...rather than a full length album I might have enjoyed it a lot more. As a Finch fan, I can't help but feel overly disappointed at what I am listening to right now. I always listen to new music with an open mind and heart, but I couldn't bring myself to give this CD a good rating despite the previously high opinion I had of this band. I'm sure there are some people out there that will really like this new album, but it really wasn't to my taste. I ... more

The latest release from the Drive-Thru rock band, Finch, finally hit stores today, i was one of the lucky ones who got in early on pre-release and got it this morning. My face shone like a light bulb when I opened my parcel. The long awaited follow up to the band's well-known "What it is to burn" was sure to be even bigger and better.

No sooner had I got it out of the case, than the CD was spinning in my car. (In the CD player that is). The first track, "Insomniatic Meat", is a simply put, stunning song. I was gobsmacked by it... and was immediately thinking "5 stars...5 stars... 5 stars..." There is a wonderful unexpected chord pattern forming the basis of this song, and a great build up of tension to the vocals. They sound completely unspoilt, exactly as intended, which was beautiful. Superb breakdowns and contrasts between verse and chorus made this a legend in my mind in a mere 4 minutes. It's the perfect introduction to a perfect CD. However, I wasn't writing the review on this track alone. Oh no, I must admit, I was in for a bit of a shock...

What follows, is a rather disappointing (in my eyes) mix of bland instrumentalism, squeaky shouting vocals and a couple of weird guitar sound effects that don't have half the effectiveness of their previous release "What it is to burn". This basically entails using guitar feedback in order to build up tension towards the following track on the CD.

To be fair, track 2 "Revelation Song" and track 9 "A man Alone" are pretty OK tracks, but not in the way that they would jump out and grab your attention. I particularly like track 9's lead guitar licks and tremolos over the vocals during the verses. However, the chorus is a bit spoilt by some shouting which doesn't really suit my taste. (Note I have referred to this as "squeaky shouting", i know i may be treading on some toes here, but its the best description I can think of at this time). It's got a good beat to tap your foot along too as well.

"Revelation Song" is probably going to become Finch's most commercial song now, it is a very safe song with not a lot of experimentalism like I would normally expect. In my eyes, it is alright for a couple of gos, but just quite plain and predictable. The guitars are mostly chugging chords, with basic (for Finch) drumbeats, and standard vocalising.

As for the rest of the tracks, not many of them stick firmly in my mind having listened to the CD now about 10 times through. They all reek of filler, which is a real shame, as Finch are definitely capable of writing some fantastic music. (At this point, i should tell you that if you are new to Finch, i highly recommend "What it is to burn", go buy it!) The singer is relying far too much on shouting to try and propel the somewhat obscure music, which is a bad idea, as the shouting is pretty drab in places. That said, the singing is fantastically emotional and heartfelt, and outshines the musicality throughout the CD.

Probably the most memorable of the other tracks on this CD would be the crunchy bass solo at the start of "Fireflies". This is a very powerful bass solo, and I felt it deserved a mention.

Moving swiftly onto the other features of the release, there is the artwork. The front cover is very untypical of Finch, as they are usually trying to depict a dark feel and sinister atmosphere in their songs. Unfortunately, putting "sunshine" in your title and having a rather brightly coloured front cover is not going to complement this atmosphere with much success. That is to say - its crap.

When you listen to this CD, you begin feeling really excited, and this is amplified by the first few tracks, but as the album continues to play, you sort of find yourself muttering amongst the mess of repetitive music and shouting "it's going to get better, for sure". I'll tell you for free it doesn't.

Wrapping up this review here, I really wish this CD could have been a lot better. Perhaps if they'd made an EP rather than a full length album I might have enjoyed it a lot more. As a Finch fan, I can't help but feel overly disappointed at what I am listening to right now. I always listen to new music with an open mind and heart, but I couldn't bring myself to give this CD a good rating despite the previously high opinion I had of this band. I'm sure there are some people out there that will really like this new album, but it really wasn't to my taste. I wouldn't recommend this to a potential buyer, I imagine that the buyer would not be too fond of the way the band's music is presented as a whole. Try Senses Fail or Taking Back Sunday instead. I think Finch have had their time in the sun.

Cheers for reading. Hope i've helped. I've put a track listing and summed up some good points below for you.

~~~Track Listing~~~
1. Insomniatic Meat
2. Revelation Song
3. Brother Bleed Brother
4. A Piece of Mind
5. Ink
6. Fireflies
7. Hopeless Host
8. Reduced to Teeth
9. A Man Alone
10. Miro
11. Ravenous
12. Bitemarks and Bloodstains
13. The Casket of Roderick Usher
14. Dreams of Psilocbin

~~~~Notable Moments on the CD~~~
1. The amazing introduction to Insomniatic Meat (saves it from a 1star rating)
2. Tracks 2 and 3
3. The way track 9 (a man alone) is just BORN to be a fantastic live song. (By this i mean the pounding drum beat and rhythm section that only a few songs pull off).
4. The singing vocals
5. The sound it made as it flew out of the window (please note this is only a fictional situation depicting what the author wished to do).  

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