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Blotto
Singles Collection 2004-2007 |
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Tracklist |
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1. Blush Timpani
2. Bound lily
3. Jet lamb
4. April
5. draw
6. ivy
7. Fool song
8. Lemon grass Foo Foo |
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Review |
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"What? It's over? What was I listening to again? Oh well." noodles' latest effort flies by at a brisk 25 minutes, yet seems far shorter. Fans of the band will eat the album up and be more than satisfied, but non-fans and those on the fence will hardly be convinced by more of the same.
Ivy marks the first album by the band as a three piece; noodles has long been a four piece band with two guitars. A defining part of at least the band's earlier sound revolved around vocalist Yoko maintaining rhythm guitar duties while main guitarist Junko would play around with accompaniments. Junko has since left noodles in 2004 for reasons unknown, and rather than find another guitar player to take her place the band has decided to remain as a three piece. While fans of the band bemoan this decision, the presence of Junko, while necessary for some older songs that require interplay between two guitars like "Tomorrow & Yesterday," isn't an absolute must. Not all songs required two guitars to sound effective, and there are many bands out there who use much more complicated dual guitar sounds that have hurdled the problem through the magic of good production in albums and clever use of effects pedals in live performances.
It's unknown whether Junko leaving has had any effect on the unit as a whole. Ivy doesn't seem any different than their other albums; however, that's its biggest problem. The band has been around for over 10 years, yet it never seems as if noodles has really evolved. Yoko still possesses that distinct husky voice with Ayumi handling backup duties. The guitars contain that same hint of distortion indicating that noodles is a rock band, yet never really rocks. The songs still have that same mildly upbeat tempo. They're still noodles.
But why must all the songs sound so similar to each other? That's always been a pet peeve with these ladies; it takes more effort than usual to differentiate between their songs. While Ivy does possess quite a few hooks, they never seem to grab hard enough. In the previous full length album, God Cable, each of the songs sound different enough from each other to stand out and there's some terrific production that really lets the instruments shine. Ivy is a different story.
Rather than giving the instruments the clear space they had before, Ivy's overall sound is so heavy that it bogs the album down. The overdrive lacks clarity and comes off as downright muddy, which may be the culprit. All that's left is the song writing, which just isn't strong enough to stick with people. The opening song "Blush Timpani" has hand claps, but that doesn't really help in remembering what the song sounds like. "Bound lily" sounds too similar to "Sweeper" in God Cable, but the latter song is much more fun to listen to.
The last three tracks are definitely the strongest; unsurprising considering that noodles' best efforts lie in their mini album releases. The instrumental title track for the album, written by bassist Ikuno, presents a bouncy playfulness to it that makes me wish it were longer and that she wrote more of the music. All of her past musical endeavors, including the aforementioned "Tomorrow & Yesterday," have been winners. It's a wonder why she doesn't contribute more songs.
Ivy will make noodles fans happy, but won't win any converts who have already heard the band and looked elsewhere. They aren't a bad band by any means, just one that isn't always engaging. When given enough effort the songs do stick, but most people won't be able to dedicate enough time for them to do so.
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