There’s only so many times that you can review what appears to be the same album, and this, Aim‘s ‘Limit Of Sight’ and One Man And His Droid‘s ‘Party People’ are all so similar as to suggest that I could do the same review but swap a couple of track titles. But I won’t, because that would be lazy.
It is frustrating to see such an unadventurous album as this. From repeating the same section numerous times in the unfortunately-accurate opener ‘Been There Done That’ to treading familiar lyrical themes of lost love and times past throughout the entire album, there is the depressing sense that Ambrose are well aware of the emo genre and are content to sit comfortably within heir box. ‘Full Moon Minute’ moves with more momentum that the majority of the album, concentrating on forming a solid song rather than trying to throw in as many riffs as possible. There is a sheen and polish to ‘The Grace of Breaking Moments’ that threatens to subvert the emotional content by seeming too clean – the vocals feel slightly removed from the music on ‘Sleeper’ and I think that a more cogent production would have helped enormously in personalising the songs, since they feel too box-fresh.
To be honest, this is one of those albums that would be perfect background music because it’s not at all taxing and has virtually no distinguishing features. ‘Tiny Universe’ and ‘Thin’ are pure filler, with unimaginative structures and bland riffs that could easily be the off-cuts from Biffy Clyro‘s new album or the rejected pieces from any fledgling new band that wants to sound like Hundred Reasons. I can’t find any other parts of the thirteen tracks that merit me writing about them because they simply aren’t worth it.
Dull. As. Hell.
Ben