Review: The Glass Canoe - Through Lianas

Originally posted on www.soundblab.com

San Diego-based, experimental pop duo The Glass Canoe, which consists of members Max O'Reilly and David Korrigan, return with their second album, Through Lianas. Two years after the release of their debut album, Chimera, the band have finally deemed the world ready for their follow-up effort. However, being experimental can be good, and sometimes it can be a very, very bad thing. Sadly for these two, it's the latter.

I was pleasantly surprised by first track 'Quasi'; the melancholic, watery music was definitely atmospheric, with a kind, compelling sadness about it. Considering it was just music for the first half of the song it was definitely something different and I liked it. However, they then decided to start singing, and it was bad. Half the time they sounded like they were wailing and the other half of the time they were being drowned out by the music, which was a good thing.

Some of the music itself is good, especially the first track, the end bit of 'Don't Find', and the pop sound throughout 'Lift'. However, this is where the praise stops, as for the majority of the time everything just sounds confused and was almost headache-inducing. I was sadly disappointed as I thought this album could be interesting and I was hoping that the half-spoken indie vocals would get better. But I was wrong, as this album is proof that the technology to make music is way too accessible for some people.

I think these two need to return to the drawing board and discover their own sound. I found the album boring, painful and confused. There's nothing wrong with being experimental but when you throw everything in the pot and hope for the best, you end up sounding like a paranoid, bipolar person, and if you don't what that sounds like then listen to this album.