Emotionalpunk.com
Media Review
Music Quality: 5.0
Production: 7.0
Originality: 3.0
Tracklisting
2. 15
3. Talk of the Weather
4. Photographic Memory
5. Death Penalty
6. Problem Solving
7. Easy
8. Papertrail
9. Fix Another
10. Stay Out of the Sun
11. Upside Down Pictures
12. The Fence
I was not sure how I felt upon immediate listening of Surrogate’s Love Is for the Rich. At first, amazement swept over me because this was the most diverse thing I had ever heard to come out of the Tooth & Nail record label; from a label that specializes in emo/hardcore rock, this was like finding a fresh piece of bread in a usually stale batch. It won me over with its simplistic melodies and golden rays of acoustic and banjo picking. This seemed like the catch of the day for me, since until then, I never heard of this band. Everything seemed to be going great; then I listened to the album a second time.
What I thought was another great addition to the modern “folk-rock” sound, turned out to be nothing more than Copeland getting their act together. Don’t get me wrong, I think Copeland is a talented band, but I have just heard that sound too much. I have heard that incessant whining in the vocal chords far too much. I have heard these same melodies over a thousand times. Nothing in this music can stand on its own two feet. This is what hurts so much. By wanting to hear a band with an original and thought-provoking sound, I had asked for too much. The members of Surrogate have what it takes it seems to make a genuinely appealing album, but it almost seems like they chickened out. Or then again, maybe they don’t have what it takes? All of the reviews I read pertaining to this release, have all stated that the album is akin to the likes of Modest Mouse, The Shins, and Death Cab for Cutie, but I see no similarities; except teenage kids gathering in a basement trying to replicate the sound without the talent it takes to pull off such a feat. The country roots you read about are not there. Neither are the supposed roots of modern shoegaze music.
Either the critics need to man up, or the band needs to. Maybe both would help. The critics need to hear the music, in its entirety, then realize its all cut out of the same crumbling mold. The same exact statement goes to the members of Surrogate. If you have the ambition to make an album with the shimmering styles of country, folk, pop, and shoegaze blended together, make sure you do that instead of playing to the label that signs you.