 |
|
| Home · Reviews · Interviews · Contests · Blog · Forums · Follow Us On Twitter |
|
by Tony Pascarella Published: September 6, 2005
Lunch For The Sky is the second album from Drive-Thru Records' Socratic. The New Jersey quintet is releasing their follow-up to 2003's It's Getting Late on the vaunted punk label. However, don't sit there and think they're just another punk band. In fact, they're a lot more piano-pop band in the vein of DTR's sister label's Houston Calls. Socratic Is: Duane Okun (Vocals, guitar) Kevin Bryan (Guitar, vocals) Vincent D'Amico (Piano, vocals) Adam Swider (Bass) Tom Stratton (Drums) After the rippling piano-driven instrumental "Theme From Your Mother's Garden," Socratic's Drive-Thru debut gets quickly to the meat of the album. "Alexandria Through Our Lens" is a glowingly beautiful social examination that just about everyone could do with a listen to. It may take a couple tries to grow accustomed to lead vocalist Duane Okun's quirky vocal style, but you'll soon realize that this is a great song. He lacks the flow of Andrew McMahon, but both in gentle lyricism and musical ability, the comparison to the Something Corporate lead singer can easily be drawn. As for the remainder of the group, "Alexandria Through Our Lens" is a chorus of biting piano melodies, fuzzy guitar chords, and thumping percussion. As a whole, I have no problem putting the song up against just about any other released in the past several years. Truly an impressive statement out of the Jersey-based Socratic. If you read through the last paragraph carefully, I said that Socratic quickly gets to the meat of the album with "Alexandria." That flash of unadulterated musical bliss seems to vanish into the piano-driven melodies that close the song. Simply put, the flavor dries out of Lunch For The Sky long before it should. On a musical level, the piano-pop flair is spot on a good portion of the time; it just suffers from the "hey, haven't we heard this before?" syndrome. Songs like "U and Left Turns" I found wholly disappointing. I figured it would be Socratic's attempt at a Maroon 5 imitation; instead, the touted R&B element might warrant an reward leading to its safe return because it's missing in action. The rich guitar-laced sound of "I Don't Wear A Coat" is one of the few factors that continues to impress me upon listen after listen. I'm not in love with Okun's vocals here, but he's much more on-key than some other tracks. The title track, which appears later in the album, runs along similar lines. Lyrically strong, it just doesn't remain memorable eternally. As for the remaining songs on Lunch For The Sky...well, there's a couple of gems ("Tear a Gash") and a few that just don't get it done. What makes Socratic so endearing despite the absence of an excellent album? I challenge you to pit the band's lyrics against pretty much anything released in '05, and see who comes up aces most often. Their downfall is the way Okun sings. It's equal parts Andrew McMahon, Max Bemis, and Barney the Dinosaur. Some people may love it, much the way that The Rocket Summer appeals to me. I just don't care for Socratic. Instrumentally, they're flawlessly talented, especially on piano and guitar. But the music as a whole just doesn't move you enough to justify either high rating or a definite purchase suggestion. If you enjoy well-written music and aren't a stickler on vocals, give Lunch For The Sky a shot. Otherwise, you may be better off borrowing this from someone who does.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 1997-2010 Burlee LLC. All rights reserved. | Reprints | Privacy Policy | Disclosure | About Us/Contact Us | RSS Feed |