The Submarines
"Honeysuckle Weeks" CD
Nettwerk Records
Genres: pop, indie pop
June 23 2008 |
Married duo John Dragonetti and Blake Hazard comprise The
Submarines, a cheery Nettwerk act that specializes in crisp,
picture perfect pop music. On their sophomore album, Honeysuckle
Weeks, they've assembled a sunny if inconsistent medley of melodic
music with a few real standouts. What is interesting about this record
is that on it, The Submarines pick at several disparate sounds
and influences and assimilate them to their own style. This comes out
on the trip-hop sound of "1940," the country blues guitar and dub
bassline on "Fern Beard," and even the numbers station sample on
opener "Submarine Symphonika." This adds some nice variety to this
record, but as an album, this still turns out surprisingly singular.
While the rest of the album is not
without its moments, the majority of the enjoyment to be derived from
Honeysuckle Weeks seems to have been horded by only four of its
ten songs. Delectable pop nugget "The Wake
Up Song" is the first of the four; its tight instrumentation and
instantly memorable melody gives it the same sort of oomph as recent
efforts by labelmates Ivy and The Perishers. The other
three highlights happen to be the last three tracks on this record
(talk about starting off strong...), kicking off with Pixies-influenced
"Xavia," then unconventionally pretty "Fern Beard," and finally
wistful closer "Brightest Hour," which recalls slower Feist and
Caroline material. Some of the other tracks have plenty going
for them - "1940" and "You Me and the Bourgeoisie" particularly - but
it is the aforementioned four that you will keep coming back to.
Still, with melodies like these, Honeysuckle Weeks makes for a
very satisfying sophomore release, and ranks among the best of
Nettwerk's recent crop.
the submarines' myspace
82%
youuuuuuuutube!:
submarines tour movie (set to "xavia"),
"the wake up song" live
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 10 tracks, distributed by
the
label,
released May 13, 2008] |
