I got an email a couple weeks back from the Track Records Label out of San Francisco. Alexandra asked me if I would be interested in reviewing an album by their band Letters & Numbers. I’m always looking for new sounds, so of course I said yes. I asked Alexandra if she could send me a copy of the disc for fear that the mp3s would get lost in my iTunes library. She, of course, obliged and I received a nice package containing the disc and a button about a week later. The Track Records packaging is simple and elegant, I like it!
I listened to the disc in the car the day I got it and enjoyed about half of it on my drive home. It’s hard to give a cd a fair shake while driving in the car though, so since then I have given it a couple more spins and here is what I have found about Letters and Numbers.
Initially the first track turned me off, due to my own lack of appreciation for the pop-punk drumming style of that song. I question why the band chose to lead off the cd with the song, “infinite morning” as it is quite different from the rest of the music on this disc. I was very pleased to hear that style of drumming was absent from the rest of the album.
I enjoyed the guitar work and lyrics on track two, “buying my blues”. In my opinion this album really get started with track 3, “paradise et canto”, it has some sweet harmonica harmonies and lovely brush work on the drums. It’s a bit of a coming of age tune, which has some very nice imagery. I particularly like the lyrics in this song, “we met beneath the power lines and slept under a moon lit sky” and “shout across every city street, take our credit cards out with us to drink”. I am guilty of doing just that; and well, as the song suggests, it’s never a good thing.
The rest of the cd rocks on and takes you on a ride through jangly guitar chords, a couple of quieter tunes, more fantastic lyrical imagery, and an overall good feeling. I am sometimes reminded of earlier Bright Eyes records in the lead singers vocal style. Hopefully he takes that as the compliment it was meant to be.
I feel like Track Records and this fledgling band Letters and Numbers have a very bright and promising future ahead of them. Keep up the good work!
I listened to the disc in the car the day I got it and enjoyed about half of it on my drive home. It’s hard to give a cd a fair shake while driving in the car though, so since then I have given it a couple more spins and here is what I have found about Letters and Numbers.
Initially the first track turned me off, due to my own lack of appreciation for the pop-punk drumming style of that song. I question why the band chose to lead off the cd with the song, “infinite morning” as it is quite different from the rest of the music on this disc. I was very pleased to hear that style of drumming was absent from the rest of the album.
I enjoyed the guitar work and lyrics on track two, “buying my blues”. In my opinion this album really get started with track 3, “paradise et canto”, it has some sweet harmonica harmonies and lovely brush work on the drums. It’s a bit of a coming of age tune, which has some very nice imagery. I particularly like the lyrics in this song, “we met beneath the power lines and slept under a moon lit sky” and “shout across every city street, take our credit cards out with us to drink”. I am guilty of doing just that; and well, as the song suggests, it’s never a good thing.
The rest of the cd rocks on and takes you on a ride through jangly guitar chords, a couple of quieter tunes, more fantastic lyrical imagery, and an overall good feeling. I am sometimes reminded of earlier Bright Eyes records in the lead singers vocal style. Hopefully he takes that as the compliment it was meant to be.
I feel like Track Records and this fledgling band Letters and Numbers have a very bright and promising future ahead of them. Keep up the good work!
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