Moneen is back with their fourth full-length album, The World I Want to Leave Behind, their first since 2006. Apparently that world is the one of present day, as the album sounds like it's from the first half of the decade.It's difficult to review emotional power pop albums without condemning them for simply belonging to the tired genre, but Moneen has created an album that fully embodies every cliché and flaw in the genre and it could be used as exhibit A in the prosecution of emo-pop.
Every song on the album tries to be epic and equates emotion with volume. There's plenty of dynamic range to backing this melodrama in hopes of giving the songs more impact, but all it does is induce motion sickness.
The World I Want to Leave Behind seems to distance itself from the common themes of love and loneliness to focus on how to make the world a better place, but what is Moneen's vision of a better world? One where they have found love and are no longer lonely.
Another apparent step forward is that the band has ditched the obnoxiously long song titles. Now the the titles are short, one or two word monoliths like “Redefine” and “The Way” that are meant to stand for something far beyond their literal meaning, but end up making the songs even more indistinguishable.
On the band's home page bio, lead singer Chris Hughes comments on the band's future saying, “everything old will start to feel new again." I disagree; hackneyed music like this will continue to sound old.
Moneen will be appearing Nov. 8 at the Cat's Cradle with Say Anything, Eisely and Miniature Tigers. Tickets are $16.50 in advance and $19 at the door.
No comments:
Post a Comment