I'm really happy that I checked out this album because I really wanted to hear the whole thing! If you know me, you know that I just can't listen to one track on a CD and call it a day. I need to hear the whole album before I can really understand a good album, so I couldn't wait to check this one out. I really don't know why I don't have this album; this is crazy because I have most of the KRS catalog, but I realize that I didn't have this one! I'm putting this near the top of my "to buy list" (yay, I can get it on vinyl too!).I haven't heard much of Thao, but I do know that she does sing with a band (well, that is pretty clear right?) and that she mixes Folk with that special breed of rock music that only the Northwest can offer.Like the other albums in this series, I've heard some of these songs here and there, but I haven't heard all of it, so you can trust me to give you a "clean review"
Track - By - Track Analysis
Beat (Health,Life, And Fire)
Strong start. I like this most when I'm cracking into a new album. For me, it shows that the band is pretty excited to get to the song and is ready to start it. This is really interesting song for me. It feels complete in my mind. There are so many instruments going on (well not really, but I think that it sounds like there is) and the lyrics fit the song. I think I'm going to like this album.
Bag Of Hammers
I heard this song one day and I was super impressed with it. It made me happy! That doesn't really happen to often, but when I listened to it I remember saying: "Wow! I need this right now!". The lyrics are amazing and simple. And this song is pretty short! Again, I like it when bands get to the point of their songs quickly and it looks like they did with this song.
Big Kid Table
I'm liking the change in tempo for this one. It is refreshing! This album is going kind of quickly so I'm glad that this one is going a bit slower. They even throw in some different instruments into this song. Nice. This feels like a summer song. Its light, it is slow and it is enjoyable.
Swimming Pools
This song is faster, and yes, the title of this album comes from this song. Yes, this has to be a summer album. What other season has a song about swimming pools? I guess this song is about being fearless no matter the season.
Geography
Wow! I hit the halfway point already and I don't even feel like I did! This is a slower song, but I'm liking it anyway.
Feet Asleep
Another slower song, but the instruments work together on this one and they stand out pretty well, like that piano thing at 1:30 or so. I guess if you need an example of alternative folk, you could listen to this song. It isn't straight up "Folk" but then again, it isn't straight up "alternative" so, I guess when you boil everything together you get Alternative Folk.
Yes, So On And So On
Looking at the lyrics, I guess this is a love song. It was only a matter of time I guess. I like it though, it is a nice song. Everything is just complete, all the instruments are working and the lyrics are doing their part too.
Fear And Convenience
This might be a song about love too (thanks lyric sheet!). This sounds a little bit like early (or late) Cat Power. No, I'm not comparing Thao's music to Chan's writing, but I'm just getting that vibe. Other than that, I'm happy that this is the longest song on the album! This might be my favorite!
Violet
Don't ask me about these lyrics because I don't have the slightest idea on what they mean. Despite that, I'm enjoying them, and and I'm enjoying this song. It's short, but it gets the story across.
Travel
The tempo went up again! That is great because I thought that the last couple of songs would be slow, but I was wrong again. Instead, they are pretty quick (this one is 1:47) and they sound like the first part of the album, instead of the second half. This one just ends a little bit too fast, but the song is great and that makes it ok.
We Go
Well, this one is slower than the last song, so I was kind of right. Anyway, I'm liking this song, everything is light and it isn't too fast, so I get to enjoy this song. Just looking at this album as a whole, they had the faster songs in the first half of the album, and the slower songs in the second, so it was great that they slowed things down at the end because it made the album end on a positive note.
I like this album! I will be buying it soon because I can't see my collection progressing without a hard coppy of this album in some format. No matter what, it is going to be a staple in my libary soon because it is great! I love everything about this album and I couldn't find a week track at all. I highly suggest listening to the whole album, but if you really want to, you could listen to this album in chunks, but I think that you wouldn't really like the album. Trust me, this is just one of those albums that you just have to listen through. Things flow in this album, and it wouldn't be right to mess up that flow with a bunch of single tracks here and there.
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