IamIs
...It's
What Life Feels Like When You're Lost Out Here... (2005, Debauchery)(3.5/5)
IamIs hail from Louisville, KY but one should not
expect this to sound like L-ville’s days of hardcore/screamo/math-rock
yore. It’s What Life Feels Like… is a hodgepodge of
pop sounds, ranging from E6 quirkiness to straight up country rock.
They even throw in a touch of bluesy guitar but let that not scare
you away, it’s usually so subtle you would hardly notice it
unless you sat down to deconstruct the album. Most of the tracks
feature male/female vox to above-average effect, Shawna D. providing
the yang to Jason C.’s yin.
‘Paper Planes’ follows the opening instrumental
track and immediately recalls Apples In Stereo with its psyche guitar
swirls, handclapped percussion and Beach Boys harmonies. This is
definitely the click pick on the album. That’s not to say
what comes after is lacking in any way. ‘The First Big Bang
To The Head’ is an admirable attempt at a slightly more organic
trip-hop sound. ‘Sunny Dream’ joyously shuffles along
while weaving a tale of hope. ‘Yesterday Blues’ segues
nicely into ‘The Anatomy Of A Rainy Day’, a short duet
replete with that crackly vinyl background noise. The album closes
with a slow-burning psyche-blues number piloted along by Shawna’s
mic-hugging vocals.
The album displayed a clever mix of sounds and flowed
rather nicely from the opening dash to the checkered flag. It does
tend to outlive its welcome near the very end so kudos to not feeling
the need to fill the disc up with “Hey! We got space left!”
filler. This album would fit nicely into your hip iPod on a hazy,
overcast Sunday afternoon.
It’s
What Life was packaged with the Coelacanth EP, a live
acoustic studio performance recorded in late 2004 at Mother Vein
Studio. The two IamIs vocalists apparently play shows together as
a duo and this EP attempts to capture their sound. I can’t
say that this EP was as engaging as the LP. It doesn’t sound
much different than you would imagine. A guy and a girl get together
at an open mic and sing some songs. They definitely harmonize well
together but the plainly-strummed guitar can get a bit boring after
a few songs. Someone needs to buy these guys a harmonica or hell,
even a kazoo. Stick to the full-length.
-Beat 5/6/05
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