Plankeye

Item: Strange Exchange
Author: Glenn McCarty

Strange Exchange

(2001)

Reviewed by Glenn McCarty

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Label BEC RecordingsThe Phantom Tollbooth2001

alternative rock emo pop rock power pop

Little remains of the Plankeye who were among the earlier modern rock bands to reach the Christian music mainstream with albums like The Spark and Commonwealth. Last year's Relocation proved an apropos title, moving band leaders Luis Garcia and Eric Balmer on to more progressive, modern rock territory, achieving an admirable sound and doing the almost impossible: resurrecting an established band with new members, and bringing it beyond its point of origin. The progress achieved with the band's latest offering, Strange Exchange, however, isn't as marked. The album is more a continuation of the musical ideas from the previous record, with a few experimental moments thanks to veteran producer Chris Colbert, but mostly contains clean performances, solid songwriting, and isn't enough out of the ordinary to warrant significant attention.

Most of the album is composed of straightforward streamlined power-pop with a little bit of punk thrown in for good measure. The album opener, "This Is," is a strong one, with nice flowing melodic lines and clean guitars, in the vein of fellow modern rock act Vertical Horizon. Other tracks along the same lines are "The Meaning of it All," and "Chemicals and Sleep," which uses a nice reverb effect on rhythm guitar to set off the yearning vocals. These sort of tracks, which dominate the album, show that the band has matured, with a greater depth in both the writing and in treatment of the songs. They succeed at wringing the most from their various components, and pulling the maximum of expression out of the mix.

Although the majority of the album runs along these lines, the most evocative and compelling elements of Strange Exchange lie in the album's final two tracks, where the crunching guitars are set aside for more sparse work, and the pieces come together more slowly. When the passion and intensity catch up with the frenetic pop exuberance of the album's early moments, the result is mature rock, which fans of Switchfoot or more clearly The Prayer Chain will appreciate. On "The Way of the Earth," the dark bassline and melancholy cello touches bring the album together. The song develops slowly, gaining momentum as it progresses, which continues into the wrenching, eight-minute masterpiece "My Daughter." Balmer's tortured vocals show the same quietly expressive power as on The Prayer Chain's Mercury or other emotive offerings.

Unfortunately, there simply aren't enough moments like these, where each touch is a solid statement and the artistry of the lyrics is given a chance to blend with the passion of the band's combined force. Strange Exchange is strange indeed, ending with this intense closer, guitars and vocals strung out over a pounding rhythm section, yet juxtaposed against more compact musical ideas on the rest of the disc. The experimentation is much appreciated, but still too few and far between to be truly effective.

3 tocks