Brandtson strikes again with Dial In Sounds, the follow-up to their EP, Trying To Figure Each Other Out. This is Brandtson's third full-length album, and their fourth release on Deep Elm Records.
My expectations for this album were high - very high. After falling in love with Brandtson's last release, an EP entitled "Trying to Figure Each Other Out," the only acceptable thing in my mind would be for them to surpass the greatness of those songs, creating something new and much greater in all aspects. In many ways Brandtson has not only met my expectations, but exceeded them.
On Dial In Sounds, Brandtson was able to fuse catchy pop hooks with intense indie rock sounds, intricate and lush guitar parts, and pure and honest vocals; the songwriting has definitely reached the next level. They set the pace with the first song, Mark It At Zero. This song picked up exactly where they left off on their last release; strong aggressive guitars, solid bass and drum parts, and great melodic breakdowns all complimenting the vocals that are open and real. One of the best things I love about this album is their ability to go from the hard rocking parts of a song, and transition to a quiet guitar part that helps you to focus on the lyrics and songwriting. Also, the dual vocal parts help the song to just jump out at you, making it stick in your head that much more.
The only downfall of this album comes near the end of it, where some of the songs don't exactly measure up to the quality of many of the previous tracks. If you heard these songs isolated and on their own, I'm sure your reaction would be that they were up to par with any indie rock songs, if not better. The only problem is, the previous songs set the benchmark for the rest of the album, and I don't think the last few songs actually reached that mark. Maybe re-working the order of the songs would improve the overall feel of the album. Nevertheless, this is an album to definitely pick up in the New Year.
A-
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2002Reviewed by Ken MuellerBrandtson is back with their third full-length disc for Deep Elm and this time the band strays even further from their emo roots, and heads further into the indie-pop realm. Unfortunately, this disc doesn't quite have the strength of either Letterbox or Fallen Star Collection. The disc starts off with an almost Elvis Costello-like "Mark it a Zero," followed by more laid-back and introspective…The Phantom Tollbooth 2002Reviewed by Bert GanglDuring the summer of 1996, just as his hardcore band sixfeetdeep was breaking up, vocalist and guitarist Myk Porter joined with drummer and longtime friend Jared Jolley to record a six-song EP. With the addition of fellow sixfeetdeep alum Matt Traxler and bassist John Sayre, the planned EP was fleshed out with four new songs and released on Traxler's own label as the Brandtson full-length debut,…The Phantom Tollbooth 2002Reviewed by Trae CadenheadA long-time creator of music of the emo variant, Brandtson made their last EP Trying to Figure Each Other Out more of a venture into a pop-emo sound, a sound that seemed to work well for them. Dial in Sounds is the natural progression from Trying. The music of Dial in Sounds may seem average at first, but upon repeat listens it will be found that the sound is catchier every time you dial in. The…Similar sounding releases
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