Greg Dona
09/28/06, 03:56 PM
Some bands have a little something for everyone. The Outline happens to be one of those groups. A dash of this and that and a scrap from every type of band imaginable somehow end up on this record that is more an amalgamation of styles than any one tendency in particular. You Smash It, We’ll Build Around It clearly represents the work of scatterbrained artists grappling either to put their proverbial fingers on the sound that fits them best or create a unique sound all their own.
The introductory phase of the album features spacey background noise alongside a synthetic, Linkin Park-esque beat. Guitar work more alternative than anything else in style chugs through a song in which anticipation is constantly rising but a climax never arrives. The group instead allows tension to build and carry into “Life or Life Like.” Here a heavily electronic tune reminds of a poppier Faint or depressed Men, Women, and Children. Then objectionable secondary vocal work reminiscent of a haunted house P.A. voice meets the frantic keyboard twang found during the peak of a horror movie featuring a mutant killer such as Jason or Freddy. Still not settled, the Outline belts out their lyrics on “Shotgun” like Hot Hot Heat and on the ensuing “My Masked Lust” tremble as do the boys of We Are the Fury. Eventually the more experimental side of the group manages even to give their best Man Man impression.
Granted some things stay constant throughout the whole of the record. From beginning to end wavering, staggered singing unifies the album. Guitars as a general rule of thumb maintain a quick, charging pace and get help from high-pitched electronic backing. Drum work is minimal in the most synthetic of situations and pounds with speed and simplicity in the most rock-heavy portions. The consistencies are good through and through, but none of the regular characteristics of the Outline are all too memorable or great.
All in all, what does the Outline sound like? Such a question proves unbelievably daunting. Imagining the resultant child of a sloppy sexual encounter between Bloc Party, the Killers, and the Faint puts you somewhere in the very general vicinity in which You Smash It, We’ll Build Around It resides. Still, no amount of writing accurately pegs such a frequently shifting style such as the Outline’s.
With this disc the Outline has put out an impressive collection of songs. Although a few tracks fall flat on their faces, other styles show brilliant promise for the future of this fledgling band. A sharper focus and consequently honing in on a few of the limitless styles they pursue could make You Smash It, We’ll Build Around It one of the top albums of 2006. However, since no song sounds all too much like the next it plays a bit too fragmented for such consideration. Instead I’ll consider it for top compilation of the year.
The introductory phase of the album features spacey background noise alongside a synthetic, Linkin Park-esque beat. Guitar work more alternative than anything else in style chugs through a song in which anticipation is constantly rising but a climax never arrives. The group instead allows tension to build and carry into “Life or Life Like.” Here a heavily electronic tune reminds of a poppier Faint or depressed Men, Women, and Children. Then objectionable secondary vocal work reminiscent of a haunted house P.A. voice meets the frantic keyboard twang found during the peak of a horror movie featuring a mutant killer such as Jason or Freddy. Still not settled, the Outline belts out their lyrics on “Shotgun” like Hot Hot Heat and on the ensuing “My Masked Lust” tremble as do the boys of We Are the Fury. Eventually the more experimental side of the group manages even to give their best Man Man impression.
Granted some things stay constant throughout the whole of the record. From beginning to end wavering, staggered singing unifies the album. Guitars as a general rule of thumb maintain a quick, charging pace and get help from high-pitched electronic backing. Drum work is minimal in the most synthetic of situations and pounds with speed and simplicity in the most rock-heavy portions. The consistencies are good through and through, but none of the regular characteristics of the Outline are all too memorable or great.
All in all, what does the Outline sound like? Such a question proves unbelievably daunting. Imagining the resultant child of a sloppy sexual encounter between Bloc Party, the Killers, and the Faint puts you somewhere in the very general vicinity in which You Smash It, We’ll Build Around It resides. Still, no amount of writing accurately pegs such a frequently shifting style such as the Outline’s.
With this disc the Outline has put out an impressive collection of songs. Although a few tracks fall flat on their faces, other styles show brilliant promise for the future of this fledgling band. A sharper focus and consequently honing in on a few of the limitless styles they pursue could make You Smash It, We’ll Build Around It one of the top albums of 2006. However, since no song sounds all too much like the next it plays a bit too fragmented for such consideration. Instead I’ll consider it for top compilation of the year.