Blanco
In a Nutshell:
Recommended for:
Fans of synthesizers, atmospheric and sonic vibes
Dark brooding guitar parts
Rough, Black Keys-like distorted vocals
Average Rating: 5.6/10
Pros:
A few charmingly written tracks
Emotional depth to lyrics
Cool synths, drum machines, and vocals
Cons:
Not too much range throughout the album
A bit stale and unexciting towards the end
Blanco is the third full length album from indie folk-rock, singer-songwriter David Bazan. The songs were originally recorded for a series called “Bazan Monthly” and released independently through Bazan’s social media accounts. When it came time to record a new album, Bazan realized they were some of his favorite songs he had written and wanted them to get more attention. Hence, he took his top ten choices, added layers and remixed the tracks to create this album.
David Bazan, Photo by: Ace Armstrong
Monsieur Magicfingers:
(Andrew Shults):
After hearing the first track off the album “Both Hands”, I was extremely excited and eager to hear more. It had a unique edgy sound, with dark themes and engaging vocals from Bazan. I listened on and thoroughly enjoyed the next few tracks. Songs like “Oblivion”, “Kept Secrets”, and “With You”, kept my interest going. I am a huge fan of the trancy, atmospheric electronic layers Bazan created on this album, and with these songs he took and blended them together nicely with solid songwriting.
After that point the song quality did drop significantly. The songwriting became more cookie cutter and predictable. There was still a continued sense of drive to create something interesting and it was still pleasant to listen to, but it didn’t excite me the way the beginning of the album did.
Overall, I’d say this an album definitely worth checking out. But if you’re like me, you’ll end up just relistening to the first four songs and skipping over the rest. But props to Bazan for making some cool music as a solo artist.
Favorite songs: “Both Hands”, “Oblivion”
7.2/10
Photo by: Gideon Tsang
Melody Maker:
(Jake Marino):
David Bazan has come out with his third full length album, and it is average.
Bazan starts out the album on a good note. The opener “Both Hands” contains an eclectic blend of synths and drum machines reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem, and dirty, distorted vocals that sound like they came from a garage band recording like early Black Keys. It contains a nice and memorable chorus as well. If the album kept this level of charm, then I would have enjoyed this album a decent amount. Unfortunately, the first song is the high point of the album.
After two or three songs, the album starts to become stale and boring. There is nothing new musically that gets introduced after the first song and it starts to really take its toll throughout the album. Songs like “Trouble with Boys” start out decently, but need to develop into more interesting ideas. Instead they drag on with slightly bland vocal melodies and synth effects.
Overall, this album could have been better than it was. The ideas were there, I just feel they weren’t executed as well as they could have been.
5.5/10
Photo by: Gideon Tsang
MOM:
(Luke Culhane):
This album transports you to a synthy dystopian world, drenched in reverb. The album does have somewhat of a negative tone to it, and that is not an issue. However, none of the songs particularly stand out. The music is stirred into a bland dough, only to be rolled out into equal sized portions. Seriously, every song is between 3:20 and 4:54 in length. This does not necessarily indicate a bad album. However with such similar structuring, an album needs some sort of pizzaz to keep your interest past halfway through, and it does not.
The song writing is not terrible, but should be better. What do I mean by this? The vocalist’s style is to enunciate clearly. This provides a good platform to deliver some noteworthy lyrics. However, that is not really done. All in all, it’s pretty much a boring album with some fun noises here and there. If I could suggest something to this artist, it would be: CHANGE IT UP! Spice up the album with breakdowns, more dynamics, better musicality, or new structures.
Fav Song: Oblivion
4.2/10
If you enjoy yourself some Bazan, go check out his website for all things music, tour, merch, and news!@#$%
For shits and gigs also take a look at this same song, played by David and just his guitar live. Much cool, many interesting.
NEXT WEEK's ALBUM:
"MAJOR KEY" by: DJ KHALED
Our team is comprised of some semi-normal, occasionally funny people who love to listen to and talk about music. And like many of you, we constantly find ourselves hungry to discover new music.