CD Reviews

The Mary Onettes | Hit the Waves

Labrador (2013)

By JONATHAN DONALDSON | March 13, 2013

2.5 Stars

Hit the Waves is so heartfelt as a pastiche of '80s alternative music that it almost muscles its way into being brilliant. The warm, near-ambient wash of "Intro," with its faded sample of children playing, harks back to the final Smiths singles. The tense, boyish vocals and wind chimes on "Evil Coast" recall the Cure's Disintegration. "Years" has those high, weird Robert Smith harmonies you've missed from forever ago. The beats, hooks, and choruses are all here, but the songs are too mid-tempo to soar as dance-floor hits. No foul; this is a vibe record. The commitment to the vibe is no more apparent than in the luscious title track's operatic dropout section — which gives ample time for a drink before kicking back in. But the down-tempo melancholy and oceanic imagery that flow from song to song confound whether the record's samey-ness is by design or is simply a limitation. In the end it amounts to me alternately saying, "Wait, I love this!" and "God, I'm not sure. . ." over and over again.

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ARTICLES BY JONATHAN DONALDSON

THE UNIFIED MELODY OF SLOWDIM | March 20, 2013
Slowdim drink wine with pizza. It's true. I was there.

THE MARY ONETTES | HIT THE WAVES | March 13, 2013
Hit the Waves is so heartfelt as a pastiche of '80s alternative music that it almost muscles its way into being brilliant.

THE MODERN RETRO OF JESSE DEE | March 05, 2013
On his new record On My Mind/In My Heart , the question is not if Jesse Dee can step up to the challenge of making authentic soul and R&B music in 2013, but rather how he goes about it.

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