Band: Falling Up
Album Title: Captiva
Label: Tooth and Nail Records
Release Date: 10/02/07
Review by: Nate
1. A Guide To Marine Life
2. Hotel Aquarium
3. Goodnight Gravity
4. Captiva
5. Helicopters
6. Maps
7. How They Made Cameras
8. Good Morning Planetarium
9. Murexa
10. Drago or The Dragons
11. Arc To Archtilles
12. The Dark Side Of Indoor Track Meets
Rating:
8.5 out of 10
Summary:
Here is a short and sweet review of what I think is one of the catchiest CD of the year.
8.5 out of 10? For Falling Up? Yep. Why? Well in complete honesty, Falling Up has always had the opportunity to release a ground breaking CD. Their talent, their music style, their mixing, it was all there. But after two full lengths, (for most) opportunity turned into dissapointment. Especially after their sophmore release, it seemed that Falling Up couldn’t produce something that didn’t sound like their last album. Creativity seemed lost and it almost appeared to be a one hit wonder band. Why all this background? Well because I think its the comeback that makes this disc, Captiva, so enriching.
This CD is a huge breakaway from the Falling Up norm. Right from the start, A Guide To Marine Life opens the album off with a unique tone of music, but an extremely catchy chorus that beckons a sing-along. Their radio single, Hotel Aquarium introduces a little more rock into the bands resume. Goodnight Gravity continues the rock style but with more of a punk-rock slant. Murexa brings the hardest tone to the album, giving the slight urge to bang your head a little bit. (Yes, its ok to bang your head Falling Up now…). Drago or The Dragons intros some interesting sounds if strings for the song but again it fits the Falling Up experimental vibe. The second to last track, Arc To Archtilles, proves to be one of my favorite tracks, with its slow piano opening, calm vibe verses, and chill lyrics.
Admittedly its hard to cap each song with a descriptive tag. The songs all seem to have their own feel, which is very important. This is why I find this CD to be Falling Up’s best so far. Distinctive. They didn’t have to change their electronica thankfully, for them to expand their styles a little more… but not too much. They seemed to pinch just the right amount of goodness into this CD to make it a very successful comeback album.