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Socratic

Socratic (The Album)

Written by: PP on 20/06/2012 22:33:38

Four years have passed since Socratic released their mediocre sophomore album "Spread The Rumours", which sounded a hell of a lot like Cartel but only a lot worse. Well, not much has changed for their third album "Socratic (The Album)", except they were dropped from their label (or rather, Drive-Thru closed and they found no new label) and they decided to self-release the record themselves. The band still plays indie-flavored pop rock that draws all of its inspiration from mainly Cartel, and uses acoustic guitar and piano as the key ingredients of their soft pop/indie songs.

Now the problem isn't so much the style of music that they play rather than that there are far, far better bands out there doing precisely the same thing as Socratic are doing here (Mae being the most obvious comparison, Copeland another). Yes, some of the melodies are arguably catchy, but they are catchy in the forgettable way. Once you pop the disc out of the player, you'll have a hard time remembering the songs. In other words, songs like "Money On The Radio" or "The Critics" are good on first listen, but fade away almost instantly after. Longevity certainly isn't present here.

Moreover, the record is full of filler. Aside from three or four strong melodies, the remaining songs are bland and boring. The kind of run-of-the-mill songs that you hear every band of this kind stuff their album full of, and then proponents claim "but the lyrics are so good" and other baseless arguments. Lyrics alone do not a good song make, they also need a solid backing melody and something else for the listener to latch on. Otherwise it just becomes typical background music, nothing more, nothing less. And that's the overall vibe with Socratic on this album, just like it has been in the past: background music, standard, by-the-books indie/pop rock.

Download: The Critics, Money On The Radio
For the fans of: Cartel, Self Against City, Houston Calls, Mae, Boys Like Girls
Listen: Bandcamp

Release date 10.01.2012
Self-Released