At the Close of Every Day - Zalig Zijn de Armen Van Geest
(Loose Thread)
7 years ago, Pedro the Lion's first EP came out to relatively little fanfare. Released on the "punk rock" Christian label, Tooth and Nail, it made sense alongside the burgeoning emo community, as any album would have so long as it had heartfelt, confessional lyrics, and a "sensitive" singer. But what Pedro the Lion were truly contributing to was a growing folk sensibility in indie rock. Low, Ida, Kings of Convenience, Smog, Songs: Ohia, the swift rise in Nick Drake's popularity, etc. would all soon take shape as a unified movement, eventually afforded acoustic, singer/songwriter albums like Iron & Wine's debut to sell astronomical units and be widely praised in nearly all circles.
This album is a great example of Pedro the Lion's quiet, moody music. The only problem is, it isn't Pedro the Lion. Thanks to singer Minco Eggersman's laid back baritone and the delicate folk tinged indie rock music, At the Close of Every Day's debut, Zalig Zijn de Armen van Geest basically sounds like a near carbon copy of Pedro the Lion circa The Only Reason I Feel Secure. The songs are somber, the lyrics are introspective, there are occasional moments of organ, and Minco's voice is unmistakably similar to David Bazan's (of Pedro the Lion).
As such, I've listened to this far more than I usually need to before forming an opinion on it. After somewhere around the 15th time through, I felt pretty confident that I'd distanced myself as much as I could from the fact that it sounds like another band.
There are plenty of great songs on this album, such as "In the Light I Wrap My Tears," "The Sound of Someone Watching Me," "Hallways," "The Truth is Always One Step Behind," "Lower World," and the title track. However, there are also some limp instrumentals that color the tone of the whole album. "The Glory of Ignorance," "Dealing With Hatred," and the hidden track at the end of the album come off almost like indie-rock hymnals: lightweight, airy, and devoid of any real emotional weight.
And that's the problem underlying this album. The lyrics, music, artwork, and textures all point to heavy, sincere, and heartfelt songwriting on the scale of Pedro the Lion, Red House Painters, Low, etc. but the pieces don't quite fit together to make a cohesive whole. So, while if this were trimmed down to an EP, it could definitely rival the aforementioned Pedro the Lion EP, as an album it is relegated to being a good-but-not-great recycling of another band's sound.
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