Den
of Size
"Flighty" CDR
Self-released
Genres: post-rock, electronic-rock, experimental pop
email the
band
Apr 5 - 11 2004 |
Den Of Size's Flighty took several listens to fully
'get', but I think I've figured it out now. This album -
consisting of nine decently long songs - is an experiment in
cross-breeding electronica and rock music. The results are not
like anything you'd expect. These unusual, frequently abstract
songs have more in common with post-rock than with what is commonly
known as "electro-pop." As such, often the songs are
boring and unstructured, which will offend both pop junkies and
electronica lovers.
A major problem with Flighty is that it's very low on
convincing melody. With music that lacks structure, this fact
may come as no surprise. Right from the opener, an uncatchy,
warbly space-ballad entitled "The Nina Complex vs. The
Flounder," we can see this disc has some serious problems.
I can't see why anyone would want to listen to a song like this - it
just isn't appealing. The same goes for the boring "Sexy
Directions" and the absolutely appalling "Sanskrit
Truck".
Fortunately, there are two exceptions to the rule. "When
Violence Calls" is a convincing and dark slice of ambient dream
pop. It is very pretty, and would make good mixtape
material. "Heavy Traffic" also boasts some neat
melodies but suffers from being too repetitive and long.
All in all, this album suffers from being far too avant-garde for
its own good. Sure, some daring music is good, but not all ideas
are worthwhile, and not all experiments work.
69%
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 9 tracks, distributed by the
band, released 2003] |