3 out of 5

Label: Pluto Records

Produced by: John Congleton

It rocks pretty hard half the time; it nails some pretty good post-rock stop/start interplay the other half of the time.  Producer John Congleton does his usual stick with these lesser-layered bands (with their pithy guitar / bass / drums setup) of giving them ample clarity but also staying very much out of their way, which, for Broadcast Sea, ultimately highlights… their lack of highlights. Wounded Soldier is one of those albums with all the pieces in place, but very much feeling like it’s nibbed notes from other projects. Resulting in a cohesive, and generally head-bobbing whole, but not one that necessarily leaves a lasting impression. The louder moments are definitely more apt to make a dent over when the group quiets it down for playing notes over chords, speaking over shouting, and so it’s pretty savvy that things kick off with the excellent – but short – We’re A Dying Breed.  Most of the tracks stick around longer than that one, though, doing the 4 to 5 minute shuffle, and the group opts for shifting between intensities with the expanded runtime. I was initially going to blame Congleton for somewhat leveling out the group’s sound across these shifts, maybe robbing them of better staying power – another review put me in that mindset – but a few more listens had me rather feeling that we’re getting a pretty accurate representation of what the group offers, which makes it a little off; a little postured. There’s a lot of sweat, but maybe not as much heart.

Broadcast Sea is the kind of group that you’d like to see live, and go into the recording blending memories of a no-doubt lively show with the listen. But, I imagine, eventually the memories would fade – especially given the lack of material put out after this, save an digital EP – dropping the album back into the middleground.