Album Reviews
- by Tom Dumarey
‘The American Dream’. That’s the name of Trophy Eyes’ third album. Which is kind of a weird album title for an Australian band… but hey, apparently vocalist John Floreani did spend some time in a small town in Texas. So there’s that. Seriously though, the album is based on the idea that there’s still utopia left on this planet – a place where you can start again and live a peaceful life. You know, the American dream.
The band’s new album seems to be something of a fresh start. They got rid of their loudest riffs and screams and went with a shiny pop-rock sound and an abundance of gang vocals instead. Which umm… takes some adjusting. There are cheesy synth parts sprinkled all over the place, which come courtesy of Chris Craker, who contributed to Hans Zimmer’s score of 'Interstellar' among other things. Verses don’t really seem to serve much of a purpose anymore other than bridging the time between another bigass chorus. And honestly, the lyrics are as cheesy as the string arrangements. I mean, I'm not entirely sure what I am supposed to take away from lines like ‘don’t you wish it’s Friday forever’ or 'is this what the clouds feel like?'.
The more I listen to ‘The American Dream’, the harder it becomes to believe that this is the same band who released ‘Chemical Miracle’ barely two years ago. The ending of ‘More Like You’ sounds like it should have been on the soundtrack of 1999’s Tarzan, ‘Broken’ consists of little more than Floreani letting us know that he likes to sleep with the lights on and ‘Tip Toe’ is a ballad so sugary you have to hear it to believe it. Come to think of it, it is probably what clouds feel like.
If they aspire to become the Disney version of Biffy Clyro… well, then I guess they are about to live their American Dream.
Track listing:
- Autumn
- Something Bigger Than This
- Friday Forever
- More Like You
- Cotton Candy Sky
- You Can Count On Me
- Broken
- Tip Toe
- Lavender Bay
- Miming In The Choir
- A Symphony Of Crickets
- I Can Feel It Calling
Lacking the talent to actually play in a band, Tom decided he would write about bands instead. Turns out his writing skills are mediocre at best as well.
