The New Year S/T

It's usually a sign that something's gone wrong when a band releases a self titled album that isn't their first. The only exception I can think of is Camper Van Beethoven's 3rd album. Can released a self titled album shortly before falling apart. Weezer's released 2 new self titled albums since their comeback. Both have sucked. There are more examples, but I'll leave it at that for now. If anyone has any albums that they'd like to add to prove/disprove this rule, please post.

Anyway, The New Year's latest album is self titled, and it's almost as bad as that would indicate. The wonderful minimalism of Matt and Bubba Kadane's previous band Bedhead is almost nearly gone. I say nearly because opening track, "Folios" is about as minimalist as they come. The song opens with gently strum acoustic guitar and takes its full five minutes to build. Unfortunately, by the time the song has really captured my attention, it's almost over. This is true for most of the album's best moments. Album closer "The Idea of You" basically ends a minute after it finally picks up steam. "Seven Days and Seven Nights" promises one of the Kadane brothers classic guitar crescendos but ends way too soon.

As Bedhead, Matt and Bubba Kadane were one of the strongest minimalist rock groups out there. At the time, they made Low's sound look weak and unfocused. But while Low has consistently challenged themselves and taken their sound in wildly different directions, Matt and Bubba Kadane have changed just enough with The New Year to avoid accusations of repeating themselves. Adding piano to the mix served them well on their previous album, and it also lends some strength to their latest effort, especially on "The Company I Can Get". But for the most part, the album offers nothing new that I actually enjoy hearing. "The Door Opens" sounds like a song from a less interesting indie rock band, and it just gets on my nerves.

Another problem is the vocals. Bedhead had a tendency to bury the vocals in the mix. This was a smart decision. Neither of the Kadane brothers have an especially tuneful voice, and the lyrics to most of their songs aren't especially interesting or clever. But for some reason The New Year has decided that the vocals should be front and center in the mix. This does the band no favors.

But I guess I understand. The band seems to know that they have no memorable melodies for us. Except for "Folios", none of the songs stretch much beyond three minutes. There's nothing here with the ability to stun listeners like Bedhead classic "Rest of the Day". And absent a good melody on guitar, Matt and Bubba Kadane are no longer exceptional. They're just a disappointingly ordinary rock band.