After months of sitting on my promo shelf, I think it's time to finally address this Home album, their 14th (based on the title, though some of those releases are EP's and cassettes). Recorded over 3 years ago, this Florida group (which has been putting out stuff since forever, it seems) has assembled a mature, strong pop album that will sadly go unnoticed by the legions of people who rave about the Flaming Lips and Wilco. Displaying more of progressive edge than most bands of their class, Home seem to possess enthusiasm for their material. The record is buried in the "innovative" production tricks that seem to be all of the rage these days, but the material is strong anyway and the record doesn't sound too hi-fi, a nice nod to their roots. It's hard for me to write about records like this lately - and being that this one is pretty old by now anyway, I sort of feel like anything else I might say is besides the point. There's no reason why this record shouldn't appeal to fan of recent Mercury Rev, for example, yet I can't conjure up the words to explain that. There are some jazz-like tendencies to their music, though the melody remains firm over everything. The inkjet-printer-styled artwork is also commendable for it's deliberate crappiness.
|
