Tortoise are one of the most recognizable of the genre known as post-rock. They brought a very eclectic set of sounds to the table, and are known for their mathy, technical interpretations of several genres at once. One thing they were not known for was lyrics. All of their releases to this point had been entirely instrumental; until now.
Having not known this before listening, I was a little shocked when I heard singing on 'Rock On', the first of a few tracks with lyrics. Unfortunately, I really don't think they added all that much. While the vocal performances and melodies are decent enough, I really feel like the lyrical content did little to add to the appeal of the tracks, especially 'Rock On', whose set of lyrics sound like they were ripped straight from an AC/DC song that never made it onto an album, which is unfortunate, because the groove on that track is undeniable.
Their progressive and complexly arranged material is a lot more straightforward on this album as well. If the band was headed in a more poppy direction, I wouldn't exactly be excited, but that doesn't seem like what was happening. This release is kind of stuck halfway between, leaving me a little cold. The band focused a lot on electronics for the majority of the album, which is hardly new, but it doesn't make me miss their earlier guitar driven work any less. It sounds a little too synthetic and sterile without some more audible organic instrumentation.
All in all, this album was a little disappointing to me. It's been a while since Tortoise has dropped an album, so I wasn't really sure what I'd get, but this project hasn't really resonated with me like others. I just find it a little too direct in its approach, a little too reliant on electronics, and the incorporation of vocals, while not unwelcome, was not applied as artfully as I would have liked.
Out of a total of five stars, I give this:
Check in soon for my opinion on the new Jesu and Sun Kil Moon collaboration album.
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