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Release Date: September 9, 2008 Label: Wind-up Records Related Sites: · Official Site Grade: A-

I believe it's a pretty common question that whenever someone hears a band (or singer) for the first time, we try to summarize the sound by comparing it to another well-known artist. For instance, when people hear Puddle of Mudd for the first time, they would probably equate them with sounding like Nirvana. It's not a negative connotation, it' just...that's what they sound like. It's also a typical question to ask of someone when they mention a new band they have been listening to that you haven't heard anything from: "I haven't heard of them...what do they sound like?"

Most of the time I don't have a hard time describing a band's sound; usually they sound like someone. Not People in Planes. I have a hard time categorizing their sound on their newest album Beyond the Horizon, because it is very wide ranging in scope. From the first song to the last, singer Gareth Jones and his band mates ride the spectrum of nearly every possible rock sound, from alternative to pop to unplugged ("Flesh and Blood" could have easily been penned - and sang - by Cobain). There is an underlying rock theme to the whole album, but they won't be easily labeled as "sounding like" someone as a whole. This is a rather refreshing change of pace in today's single-driven music economy - listeners need to hear this whole album to fully get a feel for People in Planes.

However, since we do live in the iTunes Singleconomy, a few tracks are stand-outs that if one were to pick-and-choose a few songs to get a feel for the album, these would be good start points. The second track "Mayday (M'aidez)" has a driving drum beat and a number of hooks lyrically that get caught in your brain ("I love your stranglehold; I need your stranglehold; just squeeze until I go cold"). It maintains an epic feel as it builds and the orchestration is superb. The aforementioned "Flesh and Blood" should appease Nirvana unplugged fans for it's cynical lyrics and intimate 3-piece arrangement. "Know by Now" starts out with a simple acoustic guitar and a lyric, and builds into a crescendo chorus in less than a minute before settling into a great pop song. If they don't hook you by the chorus then we'll know he "would not get through to you."

As with most albums, there are a few wrong turns, but thankfully not enough to drive the record off the beaten path. The third track, "Get on the Flaw" starts off with a great funk drum riff and a violin loop, only to have a full measure rest/pause before it picks back up. Unfortunately it totally ruins the mood started with the opening notes. There are some over-orchestration at times as well, when some discretion could have been injected. Lyrically there are some moments that are puzzling as well: on "Better Than Life," Gareth sings "We need to know what it's like to make love sometimes, I'm a virgin, yeah and so are you." He does it again in "Flesh and Blood" when he tells us "I don't want your limits, don't give me your opinion 'cuz you know where you can stick it." It's not so much that these lyrics are bad, per se, but that they stand out in the middle of a song. They come at odd moments where the lyric really stands out because the music has leveled down or the lyrics are on their own with no music whatsoever. They are moments that take away from the song instead of enjoying the story; instead, we're trying to figure out why he said that.

A few missteps notwithstanding, this is one of the few full rock albums that I've enjoyed from beginning to end in a long, long time. Every song is good, and the feeling isn't diluted by the time the final track ends. This is probably due to the fact that People in Planes' sound is so hard to categorize because there is a refreshing change of pace every few minutes. A fun album and definitely a group to keep an eye - and ear - on.