The Water Section

"And Then the Distant Hum of the American Diesel Engine" CD

Saltwater Records

Genres: indie pop, dream pop, indie rock

Saltwater Records
PO Box 262
Kingston, NH 03848

Jul 14 - 20 2003

With And Then the Distant Hum..., The Water Section has crafted a tasty debut album that is rich in lush, delicate melodies.  While pop is the name of the game here, there are also strong country and folk elements in the band's songwriting, as is becoming increasingly customary nowadays.

My only concern is whether And Then the Distant Hum... can stand up for repeated listens.  Overall, I find that their music is pleasant enough at first, but eventually has you losing your interest.  The fact that the songs increase in length as the album progresses does not help matters.  A bit more variety between the tracks (the inclusion of spacey pop numbers "Snap Out Of It" and "Elsewhere" is an example) would have been appreciated.

That said, though, there are a lot of good elements to The Water Section's debut.  Introducing horns to songs like "Elsewhere" gives off an epic feeling of grandeur, and the Sigur Ros-esque guitars that inhabit "Snap Out Of It" and "To The Odd" are a nice touch.  While some of the melodies are more focused on atmosphere than catchiness, there are still a number of very infectious moments on And Then The Distant Hum...  If you're up for trying some new up-and-coming indie pop, then The Water Section's debut might be just what you're looking for.  It ain't perfect, but it's a fine start.

80%

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 6 tracks, distributed by the label, released 2002]