2004

2004 / 4 stars / june is for women / missy higgins / reviews — No Comments
23
Jun 09

The Sound of White (2004) by Missy Higgins

missy higgins the sound of white

Missy Higgins
The Sound of White
2004, Eleven
piano pop, folk
4½

I came across Missy Higgins through her single “Where I Stood” from her second album. It’s common for me to search for an artist’s first album if I liked their second album, but it’s rare that I then find the first album miles better than the second. The Sound of White is Missy Higgins at her purest, most artistic form. Her voice, her lyrics, and her song arrangements are spotless and infectious to the point where you end up wondering if she could ever outdo herself in consequent albums.

In fact, after hearing her second album, I couldn’t believe it when I heard how prominent the piano is in this album. The lyrics are honest in a way that Andrew McMahon/Jack’s Mannequin fans will enjoy – soul-baring but coy in its subtlety. Her vocalizations are playful and range the blues, pop, soul, and what I like to call “hushed acoustic.” A literal jack-of-all-trades, Higgins’ debut shows her off in a way that American pop producers couldn’t.

“Don’t Ever,” “Unbroken,” “The River.”
myspace, last.fm
Jack’s Mannequin’s Everything in Transit, Sara Bareilles’s Little Voice

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2004 / 4 stars / reviews / three days grace — No Comments
2
Nov 08

Three Days Grace (2004) by Three Days Grace

Genre: alt rock, post-grunge
Rating:
Check Out: “Wake Up,” “Take Me Under,” “I Hate Everything About You,” and “Born Like This.”
last.fm

Like most Canadian acts that make it big in the U.S., Three Days Grace proved themselves to be as adept with catchy hooks as they were with plaintive teenage-angst lyrics in their self-titled debut. “I Hate Everything About You” should be up there with “Teen Spirit” for Songs That Capture A Teenager’s Anger.

I could go on ragging the album in that vein, but the truth is that much of it is a guilty pleasure, even so many years after its release. The album has a cohesive, maturing sound that captures you from beginning to the middle (when you start yawning at how similar the songs are) to the end (when “Wake Up” makes up everything).

Much of the appeal of this band lies with lead singer Adam Gontier. His voice is equally suitable for whispering and screaming. It’s so rare to find a rock act that has a vocalist with range, but Three Days Grace definitely has it. If Gontier were to follow in the footsteps of Dallas Green and release a solo acoustic album, I might be in heaven.

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2004 / 5 stars / jimmy eat world — 1 Comment
2
Oct 08

Futures (2004) by Jimmy Eat World

Genre: alt rock, pop
Rating:
Check Out: “Polaris,” “23,” “Kill,” and “Pain.”
myspace, last.fm

There are very few bands that I would ever consider myself a true fan of. I have no qualms about liking a certain song or a certain album with no relation to the band whatsoever. But Futures was the first time that I was hit with not only a song and an album I liked, but with a multi-faceted band as well that I had apparently underestimated, if the album is anything to go by.

In the Jimmy Eat World repertoire, Futures is distinctly different from its predecessors. Not only is the musical tone of this album much darker, but the lyrics are bluntly honest to the point where they’re actually disparaging. Jimmy Eat World has never had a problem with lyrics, but this album wasn’t along the ‘teenage angst’ route that usually works so well for them. In fact, I’d venture to say it was more ‘adult angst,’ which is an entirely different ballgame altogether.

Yet, that’s what truly impressed me about this band – not only did they venture out of their safety zones, but they did it with such earnestness that it was believably mature. “23,” which will forever be one of my favorite songs, is particularly honest with the lines Amazing still it seems/ I’ll be 23/ I won’t always love what I’ll never have/ I won’t always live in my regrets. I truly never thought they had it in them to even write those words.

While the darkness of this album pushes them more into the traditionally ‘emo’ category, Jimmy Eat World proved that there was more to them with this album. I sincerely hope they keep that confidence in mind with their future albums, because a Clarity-remake would just belittle them once more.

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