Summer People

Good Problems

Written by: DR on 14/04/2010 23:06:39

As individual genres become more and more cluttered, bands seem to be dipping their feet into a mixture of them so they can become a little bit different to most of the others out there. Enter: Summer People. This "enigmatic New York eight-piece" are indeed a jack of many trades, but more on that in just a sec. Curiously, being "enigmatic" and all, they decide to keep who plays what instrument a secret, and even more curiously, they decide to keep what instruments are being played a secret. Us reviewers have to guess, how fun(!) Fortunately, Summer People are not so "enigmatic" that they allow me to know that this is their debut album, which actually explains quite a bit about the problems of "Good Problems".

Hypothetically, I should love this album (spoiler alert: there's much about this album I do love). It essentially takes some of my most favourite genres in indie and post-rock, mixes them together, and hey presto! They've created something momentarily awesome. While those two are clearly the most prominent, there are also a wealth of others that contribute, too; you can hear folk'y acoustic, Fang Island-esque poppy instrumental sections, maybe even a dash of Fugazi in there somewhere.

Having a wide range of influences rarely makes for a boring listen, and for the most part, SP are anything but. They open with the joyous, gang-vocal led "Two Hearted River", followed by "Shallow Water People" - both suggested that this could be my new favourite band, especially with moments such as in the latter when the vocalist leaves his vocal chords begging for mercy as he screams "Just a shallow life in piss warm water". I can't help but draw comparisons to the likes of Andy Hull from Manchester Orchestra and Keller Harbin from The Glass Ocean on such occasions. Not only on the next track "Broken Bones", but in acoustic-led others such as "Glossy-Eyed", a strong mewithoutYou vibe reverberates - mwY's early material in the former, and their more recent stuff in the acoustic songs. This is what they do very well; what they do less well is:

The other stuff, the instrumental side of things (the "problems" in the last sentence of the first paragraph"). Not because it's particularly bad, but because it doesn't hold your attention like the other side. It's technically sound, but after a few listens to ten-minute long "See Ya Later, Wouldn't Wanna Be Ya" the question "Where are you going with this?" rings true. It never really amounts to anything, it's not all that pretty, there's no big climax, no crescendo, and ultimately no reason to really listen to it. The instrumental-affair is a big part of this album, but when combined with their indie nature (see: "Balcony"), it works. The musicianship itself is finespun enough not to overpower the vocals, and the vocals subdued enough to seem as though they require the musicianship to bring out the best in them.

When you learn that "Good Problems" is recorded live, without the tricks of the studio, it becomes a little more impressive, as the raw nature is a key factor in making what works, work. As with many debuts, this band showcase some serious potential, but they have kinks to work out. There's a good arsenal of moments consisting of slow-burners and intense in-your-face bombardments. However, if it dragged on a little less, this could have been the debut album of 2010 that you would have absolutely needed to hear.

Download: Two Hearted River, Glossy-Eyed, Shallow Water People, Good Problems
For The Fans of: mewithoutYou, Castavet, Manchester Orchestra
Listen: Myspace

Release Date 02.03.2010
Red Leader Records

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