Spring Break
The Coral disappoint on 'comeback' album
Erin Shea
Issue date: 9/13/07 Section: Entertainment
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09/13/07 - "Who's Gonna Find Me?" The opening track and first single off of The Coral's latest release Roots and Echoes is the kind of infectious song that you just can't ignore.
With its fast pace and beautiful harmonies, it definitely kicks the album off with a promising start.
Unfortunately for The Coral though, that's as good as it gets. The rest of the album is disappointingly mediocre - especially for two years in the making. The album's bright spots are few and far between.
The second track, "Remember Me," is a lively track telling the story of an obsessive unrequited love. It's got some great lyrics and an intriguing arrangement, but it doesn't exactly live up to its predecessor.
The song does, however, do an excellent job of highlighting the album's flaws, although I doubt that was the band's intention. While it shares many melodic similarities to other songs, "Remember Me" is faster, which keeps front man James Skelly's mature vocals lively and energetic rather than aging the band, as they are on later tracks.
"Jacqueline" is another standout track, with that kind of clean, classic sound that makes you desperately want to go for a drive with the windows down.
The better tracks on Roots and Echoes all share that fun, timeless sound that brings to mind classic bands like the Beatles or the Doors just as much as it does more recent bands like Mojave Three or Sam Roberts.
As good as those tracks are though, the remainder of the album is just one big letdown.
From "Fireflies" on, Roots and Echoes sounds more like adult contemporary than the psychedelic-influenced indie pop/rock the band is known for.
The album seems heavily influenced by older country along the lines of Johnny Cash, which doesn't exactly work for a septet of rowdy guys from Hoylake, England.
The band must be getting bored with the rock 'n' roll life because, although the overall consensus is that Roots and Echoes is a revival of sorts, most of the songs lack the unexpected tempo changes and unique chord progressions that made The Coral's previous efforts so addictive.
While the songs are all fairly well written and produced, they sound far too mature for a band whose oldest member is only 26. For the most part they are catchy, with some very intriguing lyrics, but musically-speaking simply too predictable and thus, forgettable.
Of course, when a band's been together for more than 10 years, there are bound to be some slumps. Let's just hope the next album doesn't repeat Roots and Echoes' mistakes.
With its fast pace and beautiful harmonies, it definitely kicks the album off with a promising start.
Unfortunately for The Coral though, that's as good as it gets. The rest of the album is disappointingly mediocre - especially for two years in the making. The album's bright spots are few and far between.
The second track, "Remember Me," is a lively track telling the story of an obsessive unrequited love. It's got some great lyrics and an intriguing arrangement, but it doesn't exactly live up to its predecessor.
The song does, however, do an excellent job of highlighting the album's flaws, although I doubt that was the band's intention. While it shares many melodic similarities to other songs, "Remember Me" is faster, which keeps front man James Skelly's mature vocals lively and energetic rather than aging the band, as they are on later tracks.
"Jacqueline" is another standout track, with that kind of clean, classic sound that makes you desperately want to go for a drive with the windows down.
The better tracks on Roots and Echoes all share that fun, timeless sound that brings to mind classic bands like the Beatles or the Doors just as much as it does more recent bands like Mojave Three or Sam Roberts.
As good as those tracks are though, the remainder of the album is just one big letdown.
From "Fireflies" on, Roots and Echoes sounds more like adult contemporary than the psychedelic-influenced indie pop/rock the band is known for.
The album seems heavily influenced by older country along the lines of Johnny Cash, which doesn't exactly work for a septet of rowdy guys from Hoylake, England.
The band must be getting bored with the rock 'n' roll life because, although the overall consensus is that Roots and Echoes is a revival of sorts, most of the songs lack the unexpected tempo changes and unique chord progressions that made The Coral's previous efforts so addictive.
While the songs are all fairly well written and produced, they sound far too mature for a band whose oldest member is only 26. For the most part they are catchy, with some very intriguing lyrics, but musically-speaking simply too predictable and thus, forgettable.
Of course, when a band's been together for more than 10 years, there are bound to be some slumps. Let's just hope the next album doesn't repeat Roots and Echoes' mistakes.
