Alt-J: An Awesome Wave Review

 

It's Pavlovian: every reviewer out there is ready to jump any weird rock band that comes out with comparisons to Radiohead. It's understandable--Radiohead has been so instrumental in the landscape of music, especially when they entered their second era with Kid A. Their sadness coupled with both frenetic and melancholy tracks, bending genres to their will certainly sounds like Radiohead, that much can be said. But sit down and listen to their music, and you'll hear a very different band. 

That's a very good thing to be; a great career can be made as a post Ramones band (Killers, Jet, Phoenix, The Strokes, Spoon). It's a harder question to answer if you are compared to Radiohead. Alt-J is already having to answer to these comparisons on their debut An Awesome Wave. To be honest, I'm not sure they deserve that kind of scrutiny. In the broad strokes, sure--they are the type of artists a Radiohead fan would want to also listen to. But are they following in their footsteps, or just walking in the same woods?

Everything about this album has that "college kid" pastiche, but none of it is self-aware. These guys are trying really hard to impress their teachers, their friends, and most importantly, potential suitors. This shouldn't come as a surprise, since they started the band in art school and recorded much of the album there. It's more blessing than it is curse, but it is a curse sometimes.

Frontman Joe Newman has his own take on a Thom Yorke voice, warbling between nasal, tight throated singing and whale-bellow open throated crooning. While it is identifiably not Yorke, it's still intentionally dynamic and contradicting. Whether you find that pleasing or just trying too hard is nothing I can argue against. If there's anything that truly can be said is objectively good about his singing, it's that he can hit every note he goes for, and the breadth of locations used to record give him ample opportunity to further diversify what his voice brings to to the record.

I wish the same could be said of the lyrics. You don't have to be old to be deep, but you can't swap experience with honesty and expect it to have the same impact. Honesty merely removes mental hiding spots; that doesn't make those thoughts instantly deep or sage. An Awesome Wave does have flashes of brilliance, don't get me wrong. Interlude 1 is an early indicator of their penchant for challenging choir-like chants. The simplicity of the lyrics play nicely with odd repetitions to fill the measures. Something Good is an unsettling metaphor for coping (as far as I can tell). Bloodflood is simple, but understands the mission objective.

Breezeblocks is a much more lyrically incomplete song, and not just because a lot of it is filled with oohs and aahs. It does make use of Newman's voice though, as he perfectly opens his throat as if swallowing pride during the line "The fear has gripped me but [gulp] here I go". It's a shame that, when all the rest of the singing, instruments, production, and recording are humming along at a matched pace, you have to suffer Newman saying some very dirty things. It may be honest, but not since the Fratellis have I wanted to take a shower after hearing words more, and I don't believe that was their intent.

At the very least, the lyrics do follow the pattern of the rest of the album, exploring various ideas with a running thread of a lack of attention. If Fitzpleasure is an A&P class that I'd avoid like the plague, Matilda is the stuffy film appreciation class, Bloodflood is yoga, Something Good fills your history class. You might get a little of the lecture, but your notes are filled with doodles as your mind wanders. You won't fall asleep, save maybe for Matilda. The sleepy moments are fleeting, though, as the next song comes like a school bell ringing; pack your bag, it's time for the next class. New instruments, new recording room, new pace.

What pushes this album away from contemporaries is this willingness to just try things. I, and so many people I've shared this album with, have had the same reaction to the one-two punch of Intro and interlude 1: "What am I listening to???" I have to attribute that to the hooks relying on meter and production more than they do a unique melody. There may not be a particularly memorable melody behind Fitzpleasure, but it doesn't let you forget it with a bellowing, nasal organ, like being rudely awaken by your mom vacuuming. Similarly, Dissolve Me produces a watery lick with just the right cadence and thwacking of metal cups to stick around pleasantly in your brain.

This is where it becomes apparent their production was from necessity, not choice. That's the kind of sentence that doesn't inspire confidence to a newcomer; bad recording environments or a lack of insight leaves countless freshman albums flat. I'd even level that kind of critique on Vampire Weekend, looking back. There's a lot to love about this kitchen sink approach to recording methods, utilizing toy pianos, mason jars, opening sodas, and I think even a real kitchen sink. It's yet another aspect of their music that just sounds so college. In the wrong hands, this would make the album sound so underproduced and the recording so low quality. Instead, Alt-J roll with the punches and turn this necessity into a feature.

There's a lot of reliance on percussion from non-instruments--I assume recorded in a dorm room-- as well as the mellow finger-plucked electric guitarwork. The rest of their available resources aren't wasted though; concert halls give the vocals a haunting quality in quieter moments, quick moments on a grand piano pop up as if they had only 10 minutes between classes to get what they wanted, and I have to wonder how many favors they called in to get the various more unique instruments played.

Alt-J come off as pretentious posers. But I can't deny they did make something pretty good. It's hard to reconcile both of those feelings in my brain. It's not completely fresh, it's not completely well put together, it's not completely clever. Their earnestness to create something inspired didn't quite get across the line. Instead, this is one great listen to which you can keep coming back. It's mellow, it's guttural, it's naive, and it's fun. It's pop music for pretentious people. 

It's not Radiohead, but I don't think I want it to be. Not everything that is good needs to be so damn dramatic.

7.5/10