I was sitting alone in my room, powerlessly subdued by the awesome force of writer’s block. Reviews were waiting to be written and music was piling up, as the future seemed nothing but a bleak landscape of wordlessness. Everything I was listening to sounded the same and with each review it got harder and harder to stave off repetition. Enter, Prints.
While mindlessly scrolling down our new release schedule the name jumped out, simplicity amidst an ocean of exclamation points and witty phrases. Following the links I was led to a free track, “Too Much Water.” Pleasantly soft like clothes fresh from the dryer, the song moves so effortlessly along its 4:19 runtime that by the end you’re wishing there was more. Its light vocal tracks almost quiver over the lyrics and the accompanying whistle bridges verse and chorus like magic.
After collecting the rest of the tracks I found the album on the whole very enjoyable. There’s an eclectic hodge-podge of noise throughout that gives the album a feel of warmth like the lamp-lit corner of your library or the room that’s been taken over by your inner packrat. Zac Nelson (Who’s Your Favorite Sun God) and Kenseth Thibideau (Sleeping People, Pinback) have come together to self-record the album in their homes and the result bears the loving quirkiness of its conception.
Drum and bass work together perfectly on “I Wanna Know” and “Pretty Tick” and “Meditation” sounds just as its name implies. “Blue Jay” along with the aforementioned “Too Much Water” are the big standouts for me, supplying the album with the subdued pastels of a late summer. This album is perfect for weekend afternoons in the park or a welcome escape from busy city streets.
“End” is another standout in that it capitalizes on the flirtations with electronic sound the previous tracks have. Cleverly mixed vocal blips and beeps intertwine with sonic landscapes culminating in a stereo explosion of electronic joy. It’s like if the sweet romanticism of Say Anything were played out in the digital world of TRON. If that doesn’t give you a clear picture then I’m sorry, my nerd bank of hip comparisons is all dried up.
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