Customer Reviews

Tall Tale Storyline

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There are a great many 60's-inpired bands right now
who seem strangely compelled to spray paint a good
vibe sunshine dayglo smiley face all over their
music. I won't name any names, but I will say that
many of these bands suffer from an unhealthy Brian
Wilson fixation. (This, by the way, is not meant as
a dis on Brian, who I think is brilliant, but rather
as an acknowledgement of the fact that he is not
someone that can be easily emulated/imitated).

Anyway, luckily Mazarin is not one of these bands.
There is a definite psych component to their music,
which ranges from drony mantra-like rockers to catchy
pop tunes to prettier folk-psych stuff, but the band for the
for the most part avoids the artificial sweetener
effect/trap by dropping chaotic bursts of noise
into the mix.

Especially nice are the title track, an acoustic
waltz reminiscent of Buffalo Springfield-era
Neil Young, "What Sees the Sky", a dreamy Byrds-like
midtempo number, and the opening track "Go Home",
with its chirping beeping synthesizer(?)lines
bubbling up from underneath the drony guitar
wash.

It took me a little longer to get into this cd than "Watch it happen" but now it's one of my favorite albums. The title track, What sees the sky and To Keep things moving are a few of the standouts. I find my mood dictated by music sometimes and this one always evokes that warm fuzzy feeling of the end of a deep, satisfying sleep.

It took me about 30 seconds to realize that this album offers really nothing new. Its borrowed blend of soft guitar and angsty voice evokes Belle and Sebastian, Beulah and slow Death Cab for Cutie. I am not against repitition or influence, but it seems that it is most easily excused when flattered by something new. This album certainly doesn't bring anything like that to the table. It should appeal to the angstish, I am different crowd, but if you don't see the irony in the ever increasing movement of "emo" music you need to listen more...Buy something else