by ANDREW WEBB

Play>, the debut album of the band by the same name, has been on repeat on my iPod for the past few days. After listening to the album many times, I can’t help but be disappointed. This is a self-titled album claiming to be a tribute to rock’s history and future. Play’s history of rock is an unimaginative rendition filled with overused, cliché sounds and lazy writing.

Play> has potential to be a great band, but on their debut they fall short. For now. This record is all over the place musically: Play> cannot seem to decide where or what they want to be, leaving the listener confused. Play> did very little to make me want to keep listening.

The first song, “Today” starts off with a heavy rock guitar, followed by a series of lyrics, and high pitched vocal “ahhh’s” that make me want to skip to the next track, only to find more of the same thing. The lead singer, Triss Lass is pushing himself beyond his abilities throughout the entire album. Shaky vocals and an overall cheesy-rock-history style turn the record into a bland blend of boring, repetitive sounds.

The message of this record gets lost in the abject vocals and confusing musical changes. Going from heavy rock to acoustic rock to some kind of mellow acoustic Middle Eastern style simply breaks up the flow in a way that isn’t helpful.

Despite the areas where Play> falls short, there are moments where the band’s talent does shine through. The best moments on this record are the mellower, acoustic-driven songs. This, it seems, is their element. Songs like “Chunk,” “Your Lie,” “Conflicted,” “Moment,” and “Morning”.

Their title song “Play” is great musically. The instrumentation is very well done, and is full of energy.

The song “Morning” does close out the album beautifully. I find it the most appealing, and although it strays musically from the rest of the record, it really resonates with the listener. It is very calming, which is a good contrast from the rest of the record. After 13 tracks of incoherent, indecisive rock on an album with no direction whatsoever, the calm of the final track is welcome.

Play> has potential, but they have yet to discover who they are in their debut album. Again, I’m confused about what their overall message is. According the band bio, “PLAY> has honed a sound and message that is needed now more than ever: Rock hard with a conscience and fury.” If this is the case, the message is lost or simply not there, and it is not apparent what their conscience is telling them or what they are furious about. I think they would be better off coming up with something original, instead of trying to simply compare themselves with greats to build themselves up.

Music that involves the listener, invokes emotions in the listener, and most importantly, changes the listener is music worth listening to. Play> is simply not up to par with the music I know is out there. Listeners deserve more. Maybe next time.

Artist: PLAY>
Album: PLAY>
Release Date: October 1

Our Rating: 6.0

Andrew Webb is a contributing writer for Into the Hill. He lives in Fort Collins, Colorado. You can agree, or disagree, with his review by emailing him at nallbaka@yahoo.com.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 1:29 am and is filed under Album Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.