Album Reviews

Releasing three albums in as many years is something you don’t hear that often anymore in today’s music industry. Hell, it’s even becoming increasingly rare for the same band to release three albums on the same label. Yet here’s 1997 doing just that and not only that, they consistently keep getting better with every single release. Quite a feat, considering all the line-up changes the band has been plagued by.

“Notes From Underground” opens with the eerie yet appealing “#1” before launching headfirst into the country-infused “Hold Yr Breath”… two for two as far as I’m concerned, even though “Hold Yr Breath” is running a bit too long at five and a half minutes. With no less than three vocalists in the band (two dudes and one girl) there’s enough variation to last an album. Yet the band doesn’t stop there and covers a wide variety of sounds on “Notes From Underground”. You’ll pick up on Death Cab For Cutie and Bright Eyes influences but Brand New is lingering in there somewhere just the same and they don’t shy away from the occasional outburst either. It all makes for an entertaining listen that I for one still haven’t grown tired of.