Unwind by Julian Plenti (Paul Banks)
Album leaks always seem to come in pretty terrible quality. So you’ve been warned, this isn’t going to sound all that crisp. I decided to choose a song that was upbeat, but also very non-Interpol-y. This is Plenti/Banks doing a full on indie pop song. Surprisingly, it’s not that bad. It’s simple, and enjoyable. I think that sums up the whole album for the most part. It has nice variety between mellow acoustic songs, and upbeat rock songs. However none of the songs come across as compelling. I can listen to the whole album and there’s no moment where I think “Man, I really want to go back and listen to song X again.” Then there’s the matter of the lyrics. Banks ambiguity has been replaced with awkwardness and nonsense. The song Girl on the Sporting News sounds like a slightly more serious Flight of the Conchords song. This isn’t to say all the tracks are awful lyrically, some are decent. Overall, this album is a collection of interesting, varied, and enjoyable songs, but still one step short of being something great.
