As a Streetlight fan, I had high
expectations that were not met. To say that this project is ambitious is an
understatement. At this rate, their next cover album should be released
somewhere around 2030.
The album begins with "Birds Flying
Away" by the singer/songwriter Mason Jennings. It starts off with a subtle, yet,
minor key ska groove. I feel that "Hell," originally by the Squirrel Nut Zippers
is the best song on the record. They took a classic and made it better by adding
leaps and bounds. Also, Kalnoky's well placed ukulele lends the song an
interesting edge. He shines vocally as well.
A track that I was looking forward to
was "Just," a cover of the Radiohead song. The cover ultimately left me
disappointed. It sounded like Kalnoky threw this one together in an hour. There
are points in the song where his singing is terrible. The horn lines are lazy
and uninspired. Frankly, I'm surprised that they put something of such low
quality on their record.
The last song on the record, “Such Great
Heights,” formerly done by The Postal Service is the last song on the CD. It can
be argued that this song takes the most chances. The idea of covering “Such
Great Heights” sounds good in its own right, but, the track is a little
disjointed at times. However, I feel like it was interesting to hear the band
experiment with a musical style completely different than their own.
Overall, the CD lacks the passion
presented in their previous work, especially with the vocals. The record
certainly has its high points, but, there are also low points that hurt the
album.