Lightheavyweight - Isn't It Pretty to Think So?
(Your Best Guess)
Carl Blau plays some type of brass horn on this album. Carl Blau also plays
with the Microphones--at least, I assume it’s the same man, although he
goes by “Karl” with Elvrum and his crew. Let’s see here. The Microphones’
latest album, The Glow Pt. 2, is the best album of the year. If I were to
review it, you’d see a whole fraction at the top of the screen. Meanwhile,
Lightheavyweight’s debut, Isn’t It Pretty to Think So?, gets an even half. I
suppose if you’re a Carl Blau fan, he does some fine blowing accompaniment
on this record, and so it might be worth hearing. But if you’re a fan of
excellent and innovative music first and foremost, then this probably won’t
be the record you reach for on the shelf.
Lightheavyweight’s formula often relies on clean lead guitar hooks and
layered pop instrumentation, complete with acoustic piano, soothing pad
keyboards, and a horn section present on at least half of the songs here. In
fact, it seems they’re going for a very British ‘80s and early ‘90s
alternative pop sound, particularly since they’re from Seattle (the truly
British don’t have to “go for” a “British sound”). The Smiths and Morrissey
seem to have a bit of influence, but the more docile sounds of The Cure,
early Radiohead and Joshua Tree-era U2 end up coming through the most. It
helps that frontman Joshua Dawson’s voice is a not-so-seamless amalgamation
of Robert Smith, Morrissey, Bono, and Thom Yorke, with a couple moments
reminiscent of all-American Travis Morrison from The Dismemberment Plan.
What Lightheavyweight is missing is the richness in melody and production
that made these groups effective, or at least made those bands the most identifiable with the
sound. “St. Christopher” and “Suburbs” get by with a couple of catchy “oooh”
hooks through Dawson’s heavily affected croon, but the lead guitar melodies
fail to leave any impression. Meanwhile, the somber “Northernmost Point”
drifts by pleasantly with Radiohead-esque guitar-picking, piano-plunking
progressions; although it’s pretty, there’s nothing fresh enough to make it
worth going out of your way to hear. And their failed attempt at American
balls-out funk-rock on “Day Job” simply ends up with some overdone cliches,
a false impression, and a closed zipper.
As for the production, there’s no power in the mixing. Drummer Alek Edmonds
is quite competent, but the drum sound is light, weak, and distant. Too much
room reverb can kill power, unless you’re John Bonham. More rhythm section
low end, closer mic placement and less of that overdone reverb would have
helped bring out some energy in the overall mix. Lightheavyweight seems like
the type of group whose live show you might enjoy, but whose recorded output
would greatly disappoint in comparison. As I haven’t seen a Lightheavyweight
show, I’ll simply go with general indifference.
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