The Midway State – Holes
February 19, 2009
Oh how I wish this review was going to go well. A lot of people like The Midway State. Hell, I’m sure a lot of people really love this album. I want to like it, but I keep getting hung up on things. I know two things will happen with this review. First, anyone who is a massive fan of The Midway State is going to nail me to the wall and then stone me to death. Second, I’ll have to actually listen to the whole album through two more times to actually find songs that I like.
Wait, those could be out of order. It doesn’t matter, they’ll both happen one way or the other.
Track Listing:
- Never Again **
- Change for You
- Nobody Understands
- Fireflies
- Unaware **
- Can’t Stop Walking Up to You
- Holes
- Where did We Go
- Hold My Head Up
- Fire Keeps on Burning **
- I Know
- No Crying
**Clear Favorites
I was first told to listen to The Midway State by a fellow classmate. She and I share similar tastes in music, and so when she offered me her iPod to listen to The Midway State in class, I eagerly agreed. I tried to listen to the album, but simply too much was going on during the class, and I couldn’t give the album the attention that it deserved.
Months later, I started hearing “Never Again” on the radio, which is a single from The Midway States newest album “Holes.” I liked the pop-y bounce beat, and I have a weakness for guys that sing in a higher range (I think past reviews can speak for themselves). At the same time, Theresa had a request that I get my hands on the album for her, because she’s too busy with school at the moment. “Two birds with one stone!” I thought to myself.
Yeah so I guess I missed one of the birds with this one.
See once I started listening to the album, I realized that I wasn’t really being moved by the album at all. I’ll admit that I was working through 6 hours of Photoshop homework at the time, but I still gave much of my attention to the music. Like I said at the beginning, I wanted to like this album but it just wasn’t doing it for me.
I searched for a term I could use to describe this album; a silly notion, you would think, trying to summarize an entire musical album with just one word or phrase.
Turns out I managed to do that for Holes; that word is “Listless.”
Other than the first track, none of the band members really seem to want to be there. The singing seems half-hearted, and the music itself is almost depressing. This is despite the happy pop bounce that exists within a fair portion of the tracks. Now there are some more mellow tracks with goals that seem to be primarily in making you feel like your dog just died. In these cases, the depressed, almost bored sounding singing almost fits the bill. Too bad that this effect was probably achieved unintentionally.
What makes it all the more sad is that If i tried to make a comparison to other bands, I could. The problem is that I even though I can compare them (Killers meets The Editors, if you’re wondering), the bands I am comparing them too are just so much better than this one. It sounds like they want to be awesome, but they just don’t have the heart. The end result of the music just falls flat to me, which is a shame given the obvious potential.
To try and be positive, I can see where the appeal in this album would be. It’s fairly mellow, with much piano use and toned-down melodies throughout. The singing itself is much the same, giving the whole album a very subdued feel throughout it. Even the stings of electrical guitar that happen throughout don’t really take away from that. The music does seem carefully thought out in both mood and arrangement. Credit where it’s due, I’m sure this is what they were going for and in that respect they nailed it.
Overall I’m really sad I couldn’t like this album more, because usually I can find the good in most music. Sadly there’s nothing in Holes that makes me want to keep it on my hard drive.
2/10
Categories: Music Reviews
Tagged under: 2/10, Add new tag, Holes, Music Reviews, The Midway State