Artist/Album: Plants and Animals – La La Land
Totally Subjective Number Rating: 5/10
Recommended if you like: Guitar-based rock, bands with folk influences, maybe
Released By: Secret City Records
Favorite Tracks: “American Idol,” “Future from the 80s”
Parc Avenue (2008), which borrowed about as much from Neil Young as it did from the Arcade Fire, was a fine folk rock album in my opinion. I like stuff that blends sparse rural folk and tense indie rock, but Plants and Animals have completely changed direction on their new album. They describe themselves as “post-classic rock” and I can definitely hear the classic rock influences here. This is similar to the recently-released Blitzen Trapper album in that it borrows heavily but lacks any real charm or personality. On this album they basically sound like a young band covering their heroes. I’m having a lot of trouble connecting with this band through these songs. I kept hoping something would come and pick up the songs, that one element would step up and do something interesting. I like to be able to get a handle on the musicians’ moods and personalities through their work, and when I am unable to I find the music rather boring. This isn’t completely bad though. Some fine moments, such as the meditative “Future from the 80s” save the album from being a complete bust, but don’t really make it all that interesting to me. I tried listening to it maybe 10 times, and each time it just completely faded into the background. I'd sit and stare at the little bar on itunes as it crept closer and closer to the end of each song, and was left feeling rather indifferent to this album.
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