| Mix Converge and Puddle Of Mudd, turn down the depression and turn up the sunshine, and slow the tempo a little bit and you have the post-rock duo Showbread from Georgia. The band’s new full-length, an twelve-track disc titled “Anorexia” is cookie-cutter rock. It has everything you’d expect from cd like this: smooth vocals, nice, solid choruses, and music that feels at the same time clever and hollow.
The starter “The Journey” moves along slowly, feeling like a lazy, sunny day. This is consistent on the entire album, because the adjective “sunny” can be applied to every single song. There is not one song that can be considered truly dark or edgy. It’s all loud and bright on this cd, but that’s not a bad thing. The music is a mixture of upbeat-rock and indie that is undeniably instantly appealing, but unfortunately it does not have the cerebral staying power of other indie-post rock acts.
Where bands like Death Cab take chances both lyrically and musically, Showbread play it safe. They want to appeal to everyone immediately but have neglected the long term. On all of “Anorexia” I couldn’t find a stand out single with a truly memorable hook that catapulted the album out of flavor of the hour status. The best song on the album that shows the true potential of Showbread is “The Sky” The music isn’t as sunny and moves along nicely, leading into the breakdown well, but losing its way in the lyrical department. The song is deceptive in that it fakes edginess, putting the quirkiest scenario with the song that is least likely to benefit from it.
The songwriting is effective in that it doesn’t shun any listener away by being too niche, but stutters in that doesn’t inspire further listens. The band feels like Armor For Sleep before they shook things up. While they retained the core catchiness of their songs, they made them a little rawer and a little darker, making the band a little more interesting. Right now, Showbread lacks the depth of being truly worthwhile, but the disc, given the song count, is likely to be at a lower price point, and definitely something to pick up for that sunny yet dark feeling day. Keep in mind this is coming from a huge fanboy of the band, may it be progression or regression Showbread have moved on and this is something you should pick up and give a spin!
~ Wayne
May 30 2008 |
