Customer Reviews

A Self Titled Release

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first heard of the umbrellas through mirc (an online chatting prog) and was told to check them out if i liked bands such as;
Coldplay, Radiohead, and Strada. They are ao melodic and calming.
the lead singer has the most amazing voice. I strongly urge you to give a listen. "Ghost" is my personal favorite, even if you have to sample them on purevolume.com be sure to, I guarentee you'll become
obsessed.

Review by Ray Harkins:

It's always refreshing to see labels try a different angle of marketing a new record of theirs. You can go about it one of two ways, push the hell out of the band with major amounts of comparisons, ex-member tag lines, huge stickers that display all of the bands accomplishments or you can take the riskier route and simply put it out there, with an air of mystery describing very little about the band and letting the music speak for itself.

Umbrellas is basically the guy who use to do the Lyndsay Diaries, but now lives in Southern California and began playing around with people that he enjoyed. Now, sprouts up Umbrellas that really focuses on the more "dark" side of indie rock than anything else. Hearing many different influences such as The Smiths, Death Cab For Cutie, and The Stills, Umbrellas have really shown that time and effort into writing your songs can really pay off when the time comes to showcase your music. Ed Rose (which seems to be a favorite of the Militia bands) produces this record and really showcases the bands ability to create lush melodies and focus on the songs that really stick out such as "Sleep Well Ghost". All of this coupled with a very stark yet eye-pleasing layout; Militia has another winner on their hands.

I recommend this album for anyone who enjoys Coldplay, Keane, or Radiohead. It's a very open album and it allows the listener to drift. The vocals on the album at first confused me because I didn't know if it was a guy or a girl until I read the liner notes. But after awhile, the vocals grew on me and I just loved listening to the album. My personal favorites are Ghost, Emergency, and June, Summer, Rose. This album shows great promise.

These days, it's almost cliché for singers to be deppressed, especially that of the indie/emo realm. However, there are two types of said singers: type one is really deppressed about being deppressed. They're the ones who're typically still pining away about their girlfriend not calling back, six months later. Type two is deppressed, and used to it--their persisting melancholy is almost apart of them, and it doesn't bother them so much anymore. Scott Windsor, lead singer for Umbrellas, is of the latter bunch. This self titled disc is a collection of tunes that drip with remniscence, melancholy, regret, and love.

The opener, "The City Lights," is smooth as good coffee, and the brilliant pop shimmering of "Broken Ice" glides into the moody darkness of "Emergency," with its urgent lyrics beautiful melodies. The biggest highlight on the record has to be what is also the most upbeat song, "The Black Dress", featuring a quirky baseline and sarcastic lyrics. The album's strength seems to be in its middle, with the atmospheric "Reactionary," and "June, Summer, Rose". My only complaint about the album would be that while for the most part the Umbrellas' anti-climactic style works, but sometimes it simply detracts, such as on "Set the Scene".

Overall, this is a beautiful collection of dark pop that fans of Lovedrug and Copeland would do well to add to their collections.

"The City Lights" is a beautiful song with a compelling melody. The singer has a unique voice that compliments the music perfectly. Well done on that song, Umbrellas. Unfortunately, the rest of the album fails to support this bloody terrific track. Keep an eye on these fellows, they may hit their stride yet.

welp for all its worth this a pleasent album. a collection of tuneful and sparse spidery guitar driven pop tunes. But it doesnt hurt to mention how slow and anti-climatic this album can be. i mean it wouldnt heard to add a little more then such snail paced tempo and Ed rose putting so much window dressing to make it interesting.The lead man has nice poppy voice than definetly sounds emo and manages to carry the tiny songs. The piano gives the music a melancoly moments and the music takes afew details out of the senimental mode and something more playful. But for the msot part its a senimental postcard from start to finish. and more less is stereotypical emo-pop

While listening to Umbrellas for the first time, I decided to read the reviews for them on this site. First of all, Umbrellas are nothing like Radiohead. If you want a comparable band, I'd check out THE ELECTED. The lead singer in The Elected sounds very similar to that of Umbrellas. Although, neither The Elected or Umbrellas are amazing,they are more of a pop-like band. Overall, I've heard better.