Today's Music of the Day is Receivers, by Parts & Labor. This band's previous album, Mapmaker, was something reviewed here at Support Your Local Catgun in the recent past, and it certainly received the acclaim, if not attention, that it deserved. Apparently, after the release of the excellent Mapmaker, the band's drummer left. (This is possibly due to 'creative differences', or maybe because of a freak gardening accident that the authorities decided was best left alone.) So how did things hold up?
Fairly well, actually. The sound is definitely different - there are drums, but they carry much less of the record. This album seems to be a little more vocal-driven; the melodies are still present, but they're less confrontational. Sometimes the edge is clearly missed - "The Ceasing Now" has about a 15% rock to 85% drag ration - but this album is far from awful. It very much makes me think of a similar situation with another band - The Secret Machines - that released one very good album (Now Here is Nowhere) and followed up with another album that was fair but not up to the first album's standard.
Still, there are good songs, particularly "Satellites" and "Nowhere's Nigh". "Wedding in a Wasteland" has a fairly awful title but it is one of the better tracks here. I also like the way the songs transition right into each other - a number of albums that I'm especially fond of share this trait. Even the weaker songs aren't terrible, though they could stand to bump the volume by 10% and the tempo by 20%.
In short, this is a nice album with some strong moments, but Parts & Labor should probably get their drummer back.
In Other News:
More freakin' snow.
Today is going to be better than yesterday, I can already tell. A good workout will do me wonders, though. I feel okay, just haven't felt like myself for a couple days.