Review:

on 2010-04-06 Jonathan_Kroening Said:

It only took Switchfoot fifteen months from the release of their last record to pump out their latest message-infused rocker Oh! Gravity. For anyone whos been to a Switchfoot show they know of lead-singer Jon Foremans uncanny ability to write songs on the fly, as he usually will ask for subject matter from the audience and sing a tune off the cuff about the proposed content. So its not a question of whether the band can bust out twelve new tunes at the drop of the hat. The question is whether they ought to. What fans are left with here unfortunately sound like b-sides of the former Nothing Is Sound with only a few tracks rising above the tired rest. Switchfoot would have been better off holding on to the few decent songs until they had more quality filler and by that time they would have been distanced enough from Nothing Is Sound to make a unique and fresh release, instead of one with a stale message and a regurgitated sonic landscape.

Upon first listen to the lead track, which also happens to be the lead single, one begins to wonder if its a song at all, as it rocks by at a sprint with nonsense noise and banging instruments. We can forgive the band for this type of intro when many times albums are opened with much worse an attempt than this. As Foreman begins to pose the trite questions that have become regular to his lyricism, we find our way into American Dream which it would appear is the culprit of all ailing. Foremans love-hate relationship with the land of the free is the inspiring source material for his lyrics as of late and the red, white, blue and green wave from start to finish. From replicated guitar lines to recurrent lyrical content, its all been done before, by this very band.

Dirty Second Hands is a stop-and-go, experimental piece in 5/4 time signature with cool handclaps and dynamic explosions. The message is hard to decipher and leaves listeners with the uneasy feeling that they should be upset about something they just dont know what. But no matter, because the trepid air is left behind and the positive side of Switchfoot emerges with Awakening, one of the strongest tracks on the album, where the boys return to their winning formula and break through the falling sky and the rain with an anthemic tune about living life to the fullest.

Later we run into Amateur Lovers, a dorky rocker that is borderline childish with all its screaming and yelling about how we dont know what were doing, lets do it again! But the last thing we want to do is hear this one again so we quickly change the track before we have to listen to any more nonsensical shouting. Thankfully, the next two tracks are worth the trip. Faust, Midas, And Myself tells a wonderful story of a man whos lost his way. Infidelity and fortune have gotten the best of him and he wakes up as if from a dream with the realization that he has only one life left to lead. Forced to make difficult decisions he finds redemption, in that what was once routine is now the perfect joy. The power of this metaphor is then driven home with the up-tempo love song Head Over Heels (In This Life), the catchiest song on the record. A no-bones-about-it, lets-get-to-the-chorus pop song, this tune gets off the ground immediately. Unfortunately, this is the last of memorable material we will encounter on the album, as the final four tracks seem very simplistic and exasperated, with the minor exception of Let Your Love Be Strong. Nevertheless, by the time 4:12 rolls around and Foreman once again tells us that all of ours dreams are nothing more than material were undoubtedly sick of hearing about materialism and the consequent consumer culture.

Both fans of the band and casual listeners alike would just hope to put Oh! Gravity behind them and that this hiccup in Switchfoots catalog would serve as a lesson to the band. Excellent music takes time to construct and digest; as evidenced by this mediocre record, artist and audience both need more separation from the previous album. Sometimes the departure is accomplished simply by an alteration of style, but more often than not the artist just needs time to grow. Ultimately its the banality found in Oh! Gravity that is proof positive of Switchfoots lack of growth.

2.5 / 5 stars

- Jonathan Kroening
http://www.itsjustmusic.net

Highlights:

- Dirty Second Hands
- Awakening
- Faust, Midas, And Myself
- Head Over Heels (In This Life)
Rating: 5/10

Review:

on 2008-11-13 joshykid Said:

Since forming as the three-piece indie rock band Chin Up in 1997, Switchfoot have gone from strength to strength. Initially consisting of Jonathan Foreman on guitar/vocals, his brother Tim on bass and their friend Chad Butler on the drums, the band released three independent albums, in chronological order : The Legend of Chin (1997), New Way To Be Human (1999), and Learning To Breathe (2000). All three were praised for managing to produce catchy pop tunes, while maintaining a sense of spirituality and nobility about them in terms of lyrics. Of course, the critical reception of these albums paled quite significantly in comparison to the sort received by their 2003 mainstream debut, The Beautiful Letdown. Poignant, poppy ear candy, it was exactly what was needed in the mainstream music market. Propelled by the smash hits "Meant to Live" and "Dare You To Move", Switchfoot quickly became a household name, with their follow-up Nothing Is Sound debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in 2005. Needless to say, it was never going to live up to Letdown in terms of hit singles, but was a decent record in its own. And so here we are, looking back at the latter end of 2006, when Switchfoot released Oh! Gravity. Let's dive in, shall we?

Track Listing:

1. Oh! Gravity
2. American Dream
3. Dirty Second Hands
4. Awakening
5. Circles
6. Amateur Lovers
7. Faust, Midas & Myself
8. Head Over Heels (In This Life)
9. Yesterdays
10. Burn Out Bright
11. 4:12
12. Let Your Love Be Strong

While it certainly isn't fair to call Nothing Is Sound a flop, by any stretch of the imagination, it certainly didn't have the impact many thought it would. With Oh! Gravity, Switchfoot seeks to go back to their more raw, indie roots. The distinction between this album and the previous two is certainly significant, because on the whole Gravity sounds a lot rougher and less polished than The Beautiful Letdown or Nothing Is Sound. The first song, which is also the title track and the first single off the album, is a frenzied mélange of driving guitars, a thumping bass line and frenetic pounding on the drums courtesy of Butler. While it may not appease the mainstream audience as much as "Meant To Live" or "Dare You To Move", it is certainly a fun, bouncy track to begin the album with and an indication of the stylistic departure initiated by Foreman. The next track, "American Dream", continues the mood, with a solid rock verse backed by a fist pumping chorus (It is nigh impossible to refrain from shouting "This ain't my American Dream!" when hearing it). Listeners hoping for more of the same will be somewhat disappointed, though, because "Dirty Second Hands" certainly catches everyone by surprise. Starting off with an alt-country guitar riff, the rest of the band clicks in, albeit in a slightly eerie manner. The fact that this was chosen as the second single also underlines the point that Switchfoot want to broaden their sonic wingspan. Not everyone's cup of tea, but it actually is a decent enough song in terms of technicality and catchiness. Normality is slightly restored with the passionate anthem "Awakening", which is unsurprisingly the next single. This song is probably the most likely tune to score on mainstream radio, and has already reached upwards of 2 million hits on YouTube. The rest of the album also produces notable highlights, such as the enthralling tale of "Faust, Midas & Myself", in which a man debates the devil's offer of material gain in exchange for his soul, and the R.E.M.-esque tone of 4:12 (The song also ends on four minutes and twelve seconds. Coincidence? Who knows?). Stylistic departure has been achieved in this album, and while it will not score highly in terms of pop hits, it certainly does in risk-taking.

All five members of the band  The initial three and Jerome Fontamillas (guitar/keys/vocals) and Drew Shirley (guitar)  are musical adepts. Therefore, the technical ability on this record is of an immensely high level. The three guitarists play simultaneously on a fair number of occasions, and they are quite skilful in layering the sound so as to prevent the "wall of noise" effect. Fontamillas chimes in with keyboard flourishes now and again, which add to the exotic flavour of this album. Meanwhile, Tim Foreman and Butler are reliable as ever on the bass and drums, Tim accenting the guitars well (while chiming in with a few of his own bass licks) and Butler pounding the skins with tight technical ability. One example is "Awakening", with Butler's snare fill in the bridge and Tim's bass being emphasised in the second verse, while in the choruses the guitars sound loud but clean, heavy but not overbearing. In terms of vocals, Foreman soars more than ever before, hitting those high notes with conviction and power while managing to impart a sense of tenderness and vulnerability on softer tunes. Vocal harmonies have taken a back seat on this album, but Tim reliably provides them when needed.

Producers John Fields and Steve Lillywhite have done well in co-operation with Switchfoot, and the collaboration meant that Switchfoot was able to impose more of their ideas on the album. Foreman explicitly stated that he wanted to leave certain mistakes in, and that some songs were full band recordings, rather than individual drum and guitar tracks amalgamated together. This all contributes to the roughness and grungy feel of the album.

Possibly the only aspect of the album which has remained fairly unchanged from previous albums is lyrical themes. Switchfoot always seems to veer onto the track of despising materialism and "wanting more in this life". Their 2003 single "Meant To Live" showcases this, Foreman singing, "We were meant to live for so much more, have we lost ourselves". It is essentially the same theme on Oh! Gravity, but with more words coating it. The theme is at its most blatant in "American Dream", when Foreman basically repeats "Gone" off The Beautiful Letdown, singing "This ain't my American dream, I wanna live and die for bigger things". He even goes so far as to reference Lexus cars, in the same vein as "Gone". Other examples include "Dirty Second Hands", which attempts to induce the listener to go against the flow of time and make the most of their lives, and "Burn Out Bright", which essentially says the same thing ("If you've only got one shot, If you've only got one life, If time was never on our side, then before I die I wanna burn out bright"). Foreman should have expanded his lyrical horizon not unlike what he and the band did with the style of this album, and I would have liked to have seen lyrics dealing with topics such as suicide and failed relationships. There are some glimpses of a broadening range on songs such as "Yesterdays", which fondly reminisces about the life of a deceased loved one and "Head Over Heels (In This Life)", a groovy ballad about a lover/friend.

This is a solid album from a great band, and a good follow-up to Nothing Is Sound, which felt just a little overpolished and overproduced. With Oh! Gravity, Switchfoot manages to capture the raw energy which so often encapsulates their live shows but does so with technicality which is decent. The lyrics are the only glaring blemish, but otherwise it is a good album. Not excellent, but good and I hope to see much better in their next album, because this band is one of the successes of the last ten years.
Rating: 7/10