A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night

Derek Evers — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:59:23 +0000

It has always felt comfortable to refer to Love Is All in broad and complimentary terms. There is no denying around their bright, spirited indie-punk aesthetic, and their appeal is easily explained by their music’s shout-out-loud simplicity. At the same time, it is their very ease that makes them hard to keep in focus. It’s not hard to perk up an ear at the first guitar rumbles on “New Beginnings”, the first track off A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night. It does, however, get progressively more difficult to stay engaged. These songs are upbeat and melodic in a perfectly noisy way, but there’s also a palpable lack of surprise on instant mix-tape hits like “Movie Romance” and “Give It Back.”

At the same time, that initial appeal is reason enough to keep hoping for more from this record, and there are moments where that hope is rewarded. There’s always been a distinct but not immediate sense of fragility about Love Is All, and it is highlighted in singer Josephine Olausson’s vocals. Where Olausson is eager to yelp out her song-stories in succinct fashion, she also can really sing. The Jesus And Mary Chain-inspired “When Giants Fall” showcases this talent beautifully; here, her singing comes across like a whisper, lending a certain vulnerability to the entire song

The Tripwire » A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night

A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night