 Quiet
After Nine
"Arrangements" CD
Self-released
Genres: alternative rock, indie rock, emo
May 24 - 30 2004 |
Quiet After Nine is the type of band that wins high school
Battle of the Bands competitions. Their youthful, angsty
"alternative rock" style is the stuff of muscular yet
sensitive cool kids with trophy girlfriends. Chances are, the three
guys behind Quiet After Nine are (or were) pretty popular in
college, and now that they've got their own band [and their own debut
album!], they probably have a decent fanbase and a respectable number of
subscribers for their online email update list. Their music is a
technically sound, though particularly unoriginal, brand of emo-tinged
indie rock, characterized by somewhat whiny [and occasionally
irritating] singing and tight but uninteresting guitar playing.
Arrangements is their first dip into the full-length album
department, and as is often the case with new bands, it needs some
work. Though Quiet After Nine fancy themselves to be in the
same league as Guided By Voices and No Knife, this disc
is far from comparable to those acts. Although they share a bit of
their melodic angularity with No Knife, their compositions
aren't nearly as immediately listenable or atmospherically urgent. The
closest attempt is the opener, "Make This Happen," which
boasts a good guitar part but suffers from a lack of structural
distinction and truly memorable pop hooks. In order for a song such as
this to be truly successful, Quiet After Nine needs to make the
composition tighter - the guitars need to be less fuzzy, and more
attention should be paid to accentuating the chords with relation
to the singing. A sharper overall sound would be recommended.
"Decorate Themselves The Same" is a step in the right
direction; its use of a jagged, infectious guitarline is really
successful, but the melody isn't particularly memorable. Some of the
band's less aggressive songs, like "Unconvinced and
Independent" and "Fabrication", also work as interludes to the disc's more fiery moments, but are
overall a bit inconsequential.
Quiet After Nine is a young band, and rookie mistakes are
far from unexpected on Arrangements. Keep an eye on this band;
their future looks bright - if they can tighten up their compositions
and do away with needless "filler," they could really have
something.
70%
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 10 tracks, distributed by the
band, released 2003] |
