Tapes ‘n Tapes - Walk It Off (XL)
3/5
By: Michael Cragg
Many a new band or artist has been saddled with the tag of 'internet phenomenon' or worse, something like 'MySpace sensation'. Unfortunately, for Tapes 'n Tapes they were labelled with 'blog band', meaning a band that has risen to prominence through constantly being praised on various influential music blogs.
As with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! before them, Tapes 'n Tapes released a debut album (2006's The Loon) that was already struggling under the weight of Internet generated expectation before anyone had even heard it. The Loon was a solid album, one that showed promise and a desire to be more then just another American trend band. It showed wit and intelligence, playfully merging elements of the Pixies with early Pavement and in 'Cowbell' it had a bona fide calling card.
Tapes 'n Tapes also stood out from the crowd due to their look, or rather their complete lack of one. They had all recently graduated college and looked preppy as opposed to preened, geeky rather then gutter. But now in 2008 you can't help but feel that Vampire Weekend have swooped in and stolen their thunder with their debut album and the accompanying Harvard school look they rock so well. Plus, on listening to Walk It Off it seems that Vampire Weekend also know their way round a tune better too. That's not to say that Walk It Off doesn't have its moments, it's just that most of these seem swamped down beneath Dave Fridmann's muddled production, the tunes seem to suffocate under the surface.
The disappointing thing is that it all starts so well, the first four tracks rattle along in a blur of spiky guitars, frantic drums and yelping vocals. First single 'Hang Them All' is an urgent, paranoid three minutes that builds until singer Josh Grier can take no more; "Hang them all/ Hang them all" goes the belated chorus. It rushes along like classic Weezer, as does the excellent 'Conquest', which should be a future single. But as the album goes on it slowly begins to deflate until the last three songs slip by almost unnoticed (the closing track, 'The Dirty Dirty' is a particular nadir).
You know you're in for a bit of a challenge when everything you read tells you that this album is a grower, that it takes a few listens to get into, but in all honesty it's not and it doesn't. It starts brilliantly and is very immediate and then it forgets what it's good at and tries to bury the melodies under it's own importance. It's by no means a bad record, it's just one that, in the end, asks for too much but offers too little.
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