Emotionalpunk.com
Media Review
Music Quality: 7.0
Production: 8.0
Originality: 6.0
Tracklisting
2. Card House Dreamer
3. Secret Love And The Fastest Way To Loneliness
4. My Beautiful Rescue
5. Losing Control
6. ..But What Will They Say
7. Anything Is Possible
8. The Road To Jericho Is Lined With Starving People
9. Walking On Water
10. An Ocean Between
11. The Pursuit Of Happiness: 1st Movement
12. The Pursuit Of Happiness: 2nd Movement
This Providence has always had a penchant for unique pop-melodies and technical instrumentals. On their self-titled sophomore album, both characteristics are in play, but neither shines like they did on “Our World’s Divorce”. It is not as if they have gone wrong with their sound, they were just not able to surpass that previous release which earned them all sorts of deserved acclaim.
Their first single “A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” is the opening track and while it does get your toe’s tapping, it feels like a product of the times. It is delivered with a quick tongue and bitter wit. It feels more like a song from recent Fueled By Ramen superstars, The Academy Is…, or even (to be as general as possible) Fall Out Boy. Only the instrumentals have the old This Providence feel to them, they definitely have that Seattle (circa Gatsby) feel to them, and for that matter, much of the other tracks maintain the same instrumental prowess. And as side note, I really wanted to avoid comparing these guys to Gatsby’s American Dream because the do have a distinctive sound, but there are far too many similarities in this album not to at least mention it once.
Moving on, the slight dual vocals are well capitalized upon in this CD. They are not overbearing, but certainly add a nice texture to the songs. The words which they deliver do not feel as smooth though. Some of the songs have great lyrics, but others feel lazy, never actually bad, just lacking true effort. For example in the most unique song on the album “The Road to Jericho is Lined With Starving People”, a vaudevillian romp with a plea for tolerance that wears it’s self out, there is a redundancy I can not seem to over look. They sing “Oh we all could use a little more lovin’/Couldn’t we?/So come on love/Give your love away with me”, and the fact that the word “love” is used so many times in such close proximity bugs the hell out of me. It is probably a personal thing, but I feel the constant use of that word robs the song of the dignity it rightfully deserves and helps categorize it as cheesy and sappy.
Though the album may not fill the shoes its predecessor laid out for it, the little flukes are few and far between. If you are a fan of the first CD, “Our World’s Divorce”, you will probably like this one. If you are a fan of anything off Fueled By Ramen, you will love this one.