3 out of 5

Produced by: Mandarin with Dave Willingham and Matt Pence

Label: 54’40 or Fight!

Great, so you’ve just listened to the album.  What can you tell me about it?  …Nothing?  What was your favorite track?  You don’t know?  …Can you tap or hum any particular melody?  No, nothing coming to mind?

…And so it goes with the particular class of record that fails to distinguish itself.  An album like Fast>Future>Present, which I’ve listened to several times over several years but never seem to remember anything about it beyond the first two catchy tracks, and even those blend together a bit.  I even had no idea – until forcing myself to pay attention for this review – that it had its own epic build-up track, with the 8+ minute penultimate Virus Smile.  Like, that’s a pretty good song, but I had no idea it existed.

It’s a weird experience.  The album is put together really well – hence accepting that it’s at least worthy of three stars – with interesting if oblique lyrics and some pretty killer drumming at points, along with funky time-shifts and a glittery, floaty production style, but even when I’m tuned in and recognizing these elements, and remembering that I actually remember this or that song, I’m tuned out, also not caring.  All of these elements, which are culled from other indie pop sources, even several from label 54’40’s catalogue (structural quirks of Champion Kickboxer, the whisper-to-loud punch of Pseudosix), are effected skillfully, it just seems that they’re not pieced together with any real mandarin-defining traits.

Which, as always, suggests a YMMV situation.  The Allmusic review is rather glowing, suggesting this composite of others’ noises is put to unique use, but to my ears, despite finding some oomph now and then, the disc is a lot of gloss.  It looks good on the band, and its played with what feels like passion, but there are other acts this “sounds like” that would seem to take primacy in my mental music collection.