- Release Info -------------------------------------------------------------- -
Artist: Picture Perfect
Album: Rose
Label: Mutant League Records
Playtime: 26:32 min
Genre: Rock
URL: http://www.facebook.com/PicturePerfectNJ/
Rip date: 2015-03-18
Street date: 2014-04-15
Size: 51.54 MB
Type: Normal
Quality: 256 kbps / 4410Hz / Joint Stereo
- Release Notes ------------------------------------------------------------- -
The Jealous Sound started it. Brand New popularized it. The Dangerous Summer
and Balance & Composure revived it. Strange Vacation continued it. And here we
are, in the midst of an explosion of a multitude of bands all playing an
eerily similar, slightly echoing interpretation of indie-flavored
emo/alternative rock. But this was to be expected given the momentous success
of the aforementioned bands alongside the equally brilliant, yet criminally
underrated debut album by Have Mercy last year, which earned the best album of
2013 rating from yours truly. Picture Perfect from New Jersey are the latest
band to explore the wide-open soundscapes available to introspective,
emotionally charged bands who don't want to go down the route of revivalist
emo rather than to use alternative rock as their enabling platform on debut
album "Rose"
"Rose" is essentially a rowdier and a rawer version of the polished
soundscapes utilized by Strange Vacation and The Dangerous Summer. It is
equally touching and introspective as Have Mercy in places - in fact vocalist
Pete Zengerle shares such a great deal of similarity to his counterpart Brian
Swindle that I had to double-check it's not his side project - albeit with a
slightly faster tempo. "Stone" and "Decompose" are the slow ballad-esque
pieces that most recall Have Mercy, whereas opener "Dead Days" and album
highlight "Off The Grid" feel more like The Dangerous Summer on steroids. The
guitars are sharper, the songs are a little faster than they need to be for
full effect, yet they work nonetheless thanks to emotionally torn vocals that
sound heart wrenching in their delivery.
It falls right in between the material by all of the bands we've discussed
earlier in this review, but with one difference. Despite containing emotional
depth in the form of introspective vocals, the songs themselves have a simpler
vibe instrumentally that on one hand makes them much easier to digest than,
say, the Have Mercy album, but it comes at the cost of the small intricacies
and details that elevate the record from a good album into a great one.
"Rose" is an excellent debut album that showcases a lot of promise, but it's
arriving in the middle of a crowded field of contenders that, in this scribe's
opinion, all have released slightly better albums in comparison. That doesn't
make it a bad album, rather than just unfortunate in its timing.
For the fans of: Have Mercy, The Dangerous Summer, Strange Vacation, The
Jealous Sound, Balance & Composure
- Track List ---------------------------------------------------------------- -
01. Dead Days ( 1:28)
02. Off The Grid ( 2:49)
03. Everyone And Everything ( 2:58)
04. Stone ( 2:46)
05. Voodoo ( 2:33)
06. You're A Stranger ( 3:03)
07. Cycle ( 2:59)
08. Carved Into The Bridge ( 2:40)
09. Decompose ( 2:03)
10. Rose ( 3:13)
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -