‘Coming to Terms’ with being OK
May 7, 2008
Carolina Liar’s debut album “Coming to Terms” sounds like the perfect soundtrack for MTV’s “The Hills.” Maybe that’s why the show has already featured some of the band’s songs.
I can most accurately describe Carolina Liar’s music as a mix of The Fray and Keane.
The Fray are crap – I’ve been saying it since I heard “How to Save a Life” when it became a single. I hate their whiney self-indulgent junk.
Keane, however, is a good band, and that part of the mix is the good part of Carolina Liar. The band has the piano support and the slow drawn-out feeling throughout most of the album that Keane is famous for, just not the British-accented vocals.
Chad Wolf’s vocals are what save the band from being another Fray. He doesn’t constantly moan and whine, like a beached whale. There are several emotional instances but it’s never anything that makes you want to turn it off.
The sound of pop permeates most of the tracks as well. The best evidence of this is the electronic tinges on songs like “Last Night.” A lot of the pop sound is due to the inclusion of the keyboard.
There are a bunch of those slow progressive songs that make you feel like moping. It’s not a bad sound; it’s just depressing sometimes. Don’t go jogging with this playing on your iPod; you will probably be uninspired to even get out the door.
I’m sure besides creative choice, one of the reasons for the fusion of slow melancholy rock and poppy keyboard flourishes is to attract as many fans as possible. The more mainstream sounding the music is, and this is very mainstream sounding, the more people will be attracted.
A lot of the songs are very accessible because it’s something you can just sit there and listen to. It’s pensive music; you will ponder and have thoughts even if they are gloomy. It’s also good driving music, like for road trips, not excursions to the grocery store.
Unless this is your kind of music you probably won’t want the whole album. So if you have iTunes I recommend downloading maybe a couple songs.
The single “I’m Not Over” is kind of upbeat and fun to listen to. It’s the only one that you can say “rocks.” It has some cool guitar riffs and the piano stays more in the background.
Another song to download is “California Bound.” It’s a bit more poppy than “I’m Not Over” but it’s also more upbeat and exciting. Plus songs about California tend to be awesome. If Keane took Phantom Planet’s “California” and made their own version it would be like “California Bound.”
The mainstream music isn’t for everyone. It’s for people who just like easy modern-rock that is slow and gloomy. It’s the kind of thing they’ll play on three or four different radio stations.
This band is not for anyone who likes to rock. If you mainly listen to punk, ska, or metal stay away. You’ll have no fun here.
“Coming to Terms” will be released on May 20.
Luke Soin can be reached at [email protected]
