Only the Lonely
Colony House is a Tennessee-based indie alt-rock group. Only the Lonely is their second album following When I Was Younger in 2014. This new album is of the first noteworthy pieces of music to come out this year. The group describes their music as “rock and roll” with their instruments “stripped down”.
RECOMMENDED FOR:
FANS OF ALT-ROCK
Pros:
upbeat
surprising finish
well produced
Cons:
expected, boring
lacks memorable songwriting
other bands “do it better”
Oh baby, an alt-rock group chalk full of white boys. Where have we seen this before? I don’t know, was it the Arctic Monkeys, Black Keys, Young the Giant, or Royal Blood? Wait a minute, it was all of them. I do not mean to complain about the direction of alt-rock. Each of the bands I just mentioned offer an interesting take on music (with the exception of Royal Blood, ask me about it some time). But if you are a fan of alt-rock music, you cannot deny that many of these groups are meshing into a collective sound. The fuzz, heavy reverb, and simple rock beats are cool… but a little boring.
In creating music, you have to bring something new to the table. Colony House does not really do that. If you averaged out the genre, you would spit out this album. Is there an occasional fun break down or guitar riff? Of course. When flipping this album, do you ever perk up and think “hot damn! what am I listening to?!” No. A good portion of these songs melt together. The vocals are tight and fun, but boring. He does not hit crazy high notes, and nothing about his vocal style is at all unique. In all honesty, I am a little upset about it. There is a huge wealth of bands just like this. If you want to listen to alt-rock music, do not waste your time here.
The funny thing is, this album is not that bad. I cannot point to a laundry list of flawed components. The problem is the opposite: I am incapable of listing things that interested me. The band did not really use dynamics, the song writing was marginal, and the production was consistent with limited flair. If this was a friend’s band, I would be happy for them, and tell them they have a “cool sound”. But, seeing that this is an up and coming artist, I am disappointed.
This being said, there is one saving grace: literally the last song. After my first listen through, I was collecting my mess of thoughts you worked through above, and I thought I had it all figured out. But then, the last track came on. I recently installed a new, old stereo system. This was the first reviewed album I listened to on it. Most of the tracks did not do the early 2000’s Bose speakers justice. This last track was the exception. It is the only true ballad on the album and uses dynamics well. But best of all, you can hear the sincerity in the songwriting. Sadness does not make a song good. However, delicate vocals paired with the ending lines “There must be more to this wonderful, terrible, beautiful life” is extremely touching. Furthermore, as the last lines state, “there must be more…” the final chord fittingly ends the progression without a final resolve. These finer elements make for good songwriting. That particular song was well written, I simply wish I could have said the same for the rest of the album.
Favorite song: "This Beautiful Life"
4.5/10
