With vocals as masseuse-like as Ben (Deathcab For Cutie) Gibbard’s and the melodic intuition of Elliot Smith, The One AM Radio’s This Too Will Pass is relentlessly emo, emo, emo.
The harmonic musical landscapes make some subtly twisted maneuvers, and consistently sounds as if the band emanates from a cave behind the one-man-band-master, Hrishikesh Hirway’s vocals. This approach appeals to the tastes of Heavy Vegetable and Transmarine fans; at its most orchestral moments, even DeVotchKa.
Hirway hails from Boston, but clearly doesn’t pull any of the classic punches of that influence (Mighty Might, I think not!). He pushes the analog to its crying limit on tracks like “Our Fall Apart” and converts easily to digital rhythm and keys on “You Can Still Run.” (Do you even need a lyric sheet with song titles like these?)
This Too Will Pass is a bummer that it’s so sad. And yes, that’s an intentional statement. The talent behind the music is great, but the sadness is enough to coerce us all to the edge of the river. For some, calmness in declaration of disappointment is a tactful restraint, for others it’s melancholy. Ultimately, it sounds like someone who wants to scream, but might accidentally kill several people if he gave in and reacted to his emotions. This is most evident on the track “Fire,” in which Hirway lifts his voice to its greatest strain thus far, but just moans adamantly through the intro before he retreats back to his indie Silence of the Lambs voice.
A few tracks are great, but this doctor advises not to take in this whole album in one sitting. It’s just too painless of a wisp not to hurt you in the end.
