Some Loud Thunder

Well...We All Make Mistakes Sometimes...

     

CYHSY: "Ah, artistic experimentation! What a razor-sharpened double edged sword you are! Before I know you have cut me you have sliced through me entirely as I watch my album leap into store shelves and realize the grave error in my ways!" (Exeunt through trapdoor) (Fog machines activate as banner drops from canopy emblazoned with red writing saying "SOPHOMORE SLUMP") That would be the dramatic interpretation of this review for Some Loud Thunder by CYHSY and it basically sums up my feelings on the album entirely. However, if you want further explanation of this then please, by all means, continue onward. Over-experimentation is the plague of many indie bands nowadays. Silent-striking and inevitable, most bands succumb to the desire to "branch out" from their pop leanings and flex their creative muscle with an album which demonstrates the full force of their experimental prowess. Few of these albums (coincidentally showing up as the sophomore realize *wink wink*) ever deliver on this promised epiphany however, and Some Loud Thunder is no exception to this rule. High on style, low on substance, Some Loud Thunder echoes the parts of CYHSY's amazing self-titled debut that cause you to feel chills down your spine (the surgically executed propulsive rhythms, the moment that candy-coated chorus hits, the stark timbre of the lead vocals, the general way in which the album literally makes you feel happy), and smothers them in hackneyed ideas, sludged tempos, confusing distortion, and ridiculous sound framework. The album starts on a low-note of this. The opening song is written greatly, containing that oh-so-familiar stomping beat with clanging guitars and intertwining melodies, but then is literally disfigured by disgusting distortion and vocal filtering. While interesting in concept, this does not result in soemthing artistically superior; it results in a song which sounds like a bad cd rip. Choices like this plague the album where upon listening you realize it is these little things which are killing it slowly. Overly stilted and overwrought songs like "Underwater (You and Me)" and "Love Song No. 7" interrupt the flow of propulsive songs with their presence, acting as annoyance rather than periods of goassamer-like beauty. These experimental slow pieces just seem like filler, starting with nothing and building into nothing really, making you question their purpose entirely. The primarily great "Satan Said Dance" beings with a unrelenting base-line and driving rhythm then before you can realize is smothered in ridiculous and unnecessary snippets of noise and samples. These types of unnecessary and inappropriate decisions fill this album to the brim, taking what could have been a great album (if put under some editing) and changing it into another overwrought,over-experimental, disappointing albeit necessary, sophomore effort. This album won't destroy the band by any means, and I truly don't believe it is an indication that they have run out of ideas. On the contrary, really. I think that this album proves that the band is chock full of ideas. Now they just need to practice selecting which ones are good and which ones are worthless.

decent songs - HORRIBLE sound quality

     

Having loved their first album beyond words, i am practically speechless with anger at the “experimentation” of the production of this new album. I understand that CYHSY are know for doing things a little unorthodoxly, but when I first played this new album I was afraid I got a bad copy of it (I bought the MP3’s from the band’s site before it was released…I also got the CD in the mail and checked it as well) – the first song sounds like it is EXTREMELY over modulated (the person at the soundboard had the levels pegged at 10 making it sound like the volume is up too far, even though your stereo is at a comfortable volume). I contacted the band through their site and was told that, “The first song is distorted on purpose. This is an intentional production by the band and not a limitation of the download. The rest of the tracks should not contain static.” Well, that isn’t true because the rest of the album does have moments of “static” (over modulation)…while I’m all for indie-experimentation, I draw the line at a production that sounds like my speakers are blown. The absolutely sad and horrible thing about this is the songs that sound like this are actually very good songs, but the quality drives me to skip them…GRRRR. The best song by far is “Underwater (You and Me)” – I FREAKING LOVE THIS SONG…one of the greatest songs of any band ever… The worst song by far is “Satan Said Dance” – catchy in a repetitious way, but quickly becomes annoying after one or two listens…

At first I liked this album less than their first( cyhsy's first album is great) but as I've listened to this more and more I like it more and more and now I find I enjoy it just as much as their first. Like their first album there is not one song I do not like. There are some songs though I like more than others. For instance "Satan said dance" "Some loud thunder" "Mama wont u keep them castles in the air and burning" "goodbye to mother and cove" and as Iisten I think my favorites will change just as they have brfore.