Spring Break
Keane's Perfect Symmetry has its flaws
John Holmes
Issue date: 10/24/08 Section: Entertainment
10/24/08 - "What is this, Coldplay?" This is the likely reaction of anyone listening to Keane for the first time. It would be hard to fault them: English piano-rock band Keane's sound has, since then big break in 2004 with hit single "Somewhere Only We Know," and debut album Hopes and Fears, been very reminiscent of Coldplay, eschewing electric guitar in favor of piano.
The band makes a break from this with Perfect Symmetry, its third album, which features synthesizers, distorted piano, and yes, electric guitars. The tracks on the album veer toward a poppy, danceable sound. The new sound succeeds in differentiating Keane from Coldplay, but it seems to have run into another problem.
"What is this, The Killers?" asks my roommate, entering the room while the album is playing. D'oh!
Take "Spiralling," the opening track and first single, for instance. The song is almost disco in sound, featuring funky bass lines and buzzing synth designed for the dance floor, while singer Tom Chaplin seems to have adopted the vocal stylings of Killers frontman Brandon Flowers, aping his melodramatic delivery and stretching of vowel sounds. It all sounds nice, but it doesn't sound new.
"Better than This" fares better, with Chaplin displaying a playful falsetto over warped guitars, an energetic drumbeat accentuated by handclaps, and, if you listen closely…yes! Cowbell!
Lyrically, the album is a bit of a mixed bag. On "The Lovers are Losing "Chaplin sings, "we cling to love like a skidding car / clinched to the corner," and on the title track, "I dream in e-mails, worn out phrases / mile after mile of just empty pages." Maybe he puts it best himself, singing as well on the latter, "I wish I could make sense of what we do.
Other songs fare better lyrically however. "Again & Again" is a pretty lucid lament about the inadequacy of language in communication: "I'm just shaping the sound / I'm just turning the syllables 'round / dipping my toe in the water / and watching you drown."
"Playing Along," a tune targeting political apathy, features a repeating refrain of "I'm gonna turn up the volume / 'til I can't even think" as distorted electric guitars slowly grow louder, drowning out the vocals.
So there you have it. Somewhere in between Coldplay and the Killers lies Keane. Perfect Symmetry isn't particularly bad, but it's not a revelation either. Keane has produced an album of 11 perfectly decent songs, but I can already tell that I won't be listening to this next week.
Still, I'd rather listen to this than Oasis.
The band makes a break from this with Perfect Symmetry, its third album, which features synthesizers, distorted piano, and yes, electric guitars. The tracks on the album veer toward a poppy, danceable sound. The new sound succeeds in differentiating Keane from Coldplay, but it seems to have run into another problem.
"What is this, The Killers?" asks my roommate, entering the room while the album is playing. D'oh!
Take "Spiralling," the opening track and first single, for instance. The song is almost disco in sound, featuring funky bass lines and buzzing synth designed for the dance floor, while singer Tom Chaplin seems to have adopted the vocal stylings of Killers frontman Brandon Flowers, aping his melodramatic delivery and stretching of vowel sounds. It all sounds nice, but it doesn't sound new.
"Better than This" fares better, with Chaplin displaying a playful falsetto over warped guitars, an energetic drumbeat accentuated by handclaps, and, if you listen closely…yes! Cowbell!
Lyrically, the album is a bit of a mixed bag. On "The Lovers are Losing "Chaplin sings, "we cling to love like a skidding car / clinched to the corner," and on the title track, "I dream in e-mails, worn out phrases / mile after mile of just empty pages." Maybe he puts it best himself, singing as well on the latter, "I wish I could make sense of what we do.
Other songs fare better lyrically however. "Again & Again" is a pretty lucid lament about the inadequacy of language in communication: "I'm just shaping the sound / I'm just turning the syllables 'round / dipping my toe in the water / and watching you drown."
"Playing Along," a tune targeting political apathy, features a repeating refrain of "I'm gonna turn up the volume / 'til I can't even think" as distorted electric guitars slowly grow louder, drowning out the vocals.
So there you have it. Somewhere in between Coldplay and the Killers lies Keane. Perfect Symmetry isn't particularly bad, but it's not a revelation either. Keane has produced an album of 11 perfectly decent songs, but I can already tell that I won't be listening to this next week.
Still, I'd rather listen to this than Oasis.
