“We Make Our Own Luck” (Joint Review)
Well… This was a hard one. The album took about 5 listens to really make a decision on whether I liked it or not. In the end I think I was still a bit undecided, but here it goes…
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New Ruins - "We Make Our Own Bad Luck"
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New Ruins released their first album in 2004 and “WMOOBL” is the follow up. “WMOOBL” is musically very interesting but apart from a few songs it doesn’t really grab your attention, this is where I had trouble in figuring out whether I liked it or not, and I came to the conclusion that like Fleet Foxes last year, I respect the songs they are writing, but in the end it’s not really the music for me.
‘Angry Ghost’ is a song I did really enjoy and does stray away in terms of genre from the rest of the album, if I was to describe it I would probably liken it to an acoustic Animal Collective song. Hats off to the drum beat, it’s an acoustic beat that is intricate and something that you would usually find in trip-hop, the fact that it is recorded acoustically is very refreshing.
The second track, ‘Lake’, is another song that does appeal to me, and at this point I was starting to think that this album was going to be a gem. ‘Lake’ uses an Interpol-esque guitar track, that is one of the few times on the album that the band picks up the electric guitar for a more indie-rock style.
Then the album starts to morph into a very folk-ish style and the slide guitar is given a feature. This is where I quietly left the boat, I do like my fair share of folk music but sometimes it just doesn’t quite click for me. There are some really amazing lap-steel moments and I do like the combination of folk and close to experimental music, but I think the fact that the album doesn’t stay at the same place means that it doesn’t really state an intention like other bands such as Fleet Foxes and to an extent Bon Iver.
This is an album that can’t be disliked, but I don’t think I was the right person to review it, and to be perfectly honest I don’t think the album will be picked up by to many people, for the simple reason of it genre, or lack it one. I do agree with my fellow blogger in that the album is consistent in quality, but I think it needed more of an intent or a direction, to really appeal to lots of people.
I think it’s a good album by an interesting band and I do think that there will be a group of people that think this album is brilliant, I’m not in the right position to really say that, because it’s a too foreign and eclectic genre, for me. If you are interested with what you hear at their myspace, then I would definitely give this a listen, but it’s definitely an acquired taste.
Highly Evolved 