| Be wary of mumbled introductions.
For albums, that means slinking slowly away from the digitally garbled notes of side one, track one. What are they trying to hide, anyway? In the case of Longview, it’s the precarious position of being on the cusp of the New York band’s own sound. Longview scored a minor radio and coaster-themed video hit with "Tidal Wave," off the band’s major label debut in 2003. |
| Longwave |
| Life of the Party |
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| And while the band is known for spacey fuzz both cozy and disconcerting, its latest “Life of the Party” EP tries too hard to be everyone’s best friend – ending the night with two dozen one-minute conversations but still the same ride home, alone.
On the marble-mouthed title track, the band mistakes the bleeps and whirrs of a producer gone mad for musical complexity. We’re left with the same live-instruments-meet-robotic-sounds already mined by Granddaddy. “There’s a Fire” features the thin, plaintive vocals of a Mercury Rev outtake set to the bonfire strumming of an acoustic guitar. But there is hope. “Here it Comes” is an incredibly catchy head trip that sounds like a bad date on a Californian Christmas Eve. They’ve earned a return invite for the next time the parents are out of town. It could be fun. |
| Originally published in the August 2004 edition of Take ONE, as written by Hank Brockett |
| Now you can buy paint - a B-plus. |