Battles On

Indie pop for people who like Black Kids’ first EP, Of Montreal, and maybe some Bloc Party and The Drums. Pretty enjoyable CD if you like sappy lyrics and big instrumentations with anthems for endings. Try 2, 1, 5 and 7.
*1. Loud entrance that sounds like an army band. Then it calms down and the vocals, synth, and guitars build back into the army band sound. Really cool and energy building.
*2. Starts with arpeggiated chord, then a chorus comes in and the song explodes. Very up-beat and summer-y sounding.
3. Starts as a slow song, then picks up. Kind of sappy, with female “Na na na nanaaa” lyrics. Skip it.
4. Another upbeat, fast played, summer anthem.
*5. Mid-tempo. Organ, piano and female vocals give the beginning an ominous feel, then guitar riffs and drums come in and pick the beat up. Still a sad song.
6. Mid-tempo. Another song that strives for depth and falls short. A lot of instruments, a lot of noise, but not well mixed.
*7. Ballad led by piano, with some experimental noises in the background halfway through. Interesting and lonely.
8. Another slow, sappy song that picks up halfway through, led by the synth and drums, with hesitating guitar licks on top. Female vocals.
9. Acoustic guitar and vocals ballad, pop more than folk. Reverberating sound that gives it a sad, lonely feeling again. FCC? Says “Goddamn.”
10. Another slow song with synth and female chorals. Friggin’ 8 minutes long! It builds into something a bit heavy at 2:15, then settles again, a pattern which repeats all throughout the song, then some acoustic guitar…Sounds like the leftover clippings from the recording sessions pasted together. Ends big.
11. Another piano song with female vocals. Sounds like a sweet lullaby about love. Build up after minute 2 and ends big, with anthems and all.
12. Mid-tempo for closure. Song led by guitar and vocals. Not as upbeat as the songs at the beginning of the CD
~Eduisa