Let It Happen

Cause + Effect

Written by: TL on 15/01/2015 19:54:01

Named after one of the songs from "Chase This Light", Let It Happen shouldn't have to write it on their facebook for you to know that they're inspired by Jimmy Eat World. You can hear it too, in some of the riffs and bass grooves they employ on their debut album "Cause + Effect" from September, yet the tone of singer/guitarist Drew Brown's affected vocalwork drags the band's overall sound closer to bands like Relient K and Cartel. Regardless, with this being the Cincinnati quartet's first full length, it's cool to hear how accomplished it sounds in terms of both songwriting and production, as the band appears as the sort of all-American pop-rock sensation that has graduated early from trying to doing.

That's another way of saying that the record sounds crisp, and that more often than not the songs are pretty catchy. "High And Dry" at track five for instance, can crawl into your memory even if you aren't paying attention, although curiously more by way of its rising pre-chorus and quivering second verse than because of its actual chorus. Prior to it "The Lonely One" has a tasty, falsetto-adorned verse that wouldn't have been out of place on a Plain White T's song, while the "Natural disaster" opening to its chorus is pop-rock gold as well, and with the bridge also catching on via a choppy bass part, the song rounds off really nicely, standing out as a highlight to the album along with "High And Dry".

Other songs, like "Heavy Pages Are Harder To Turn", "Sinner/Saint" and "Spent", are pretty catchy as well, but show that Let It Happen's lyricism can be a bit plain, as especially the first of the three feels corny in the wordplay of its hook, which does however make an instant impression regardless. It's clear though, that by inviting comparisons to Jimmy Eat World it becomes apparent that Let It Happen have only partly mastered the Arizona legends' winning formula. You'll hear the inspiration here and there, but "Cause + Effect" doesn't have nearly the same depth or the same confidently nuanced expression.

That being said, Jimmy Eat World's bar is a high one to meet by now, if not the highest in the stylistic vicinity. If you instead compare the consistent album that is "Cause + Effect" to the other bands mentioned, Let It Happen seem like they're ready to play at the same level - even if they have a much shorter discography - with their main problem perhaps being that they sound almost too similar to the competition. All things considered then, their debut album is a positive surprise, especially due to how the songwriting manages to engage through the somewhat typical sound. It might not move your ideas of the American pop-rock sound anywhere, but you will recognise these songs each time you hear them, and if Let It Happen can expand on their own personal take on the expression and/or learn even more from Jimmy Eat World's curriculum, bigger things could well be in store for them.

Download: The Lonely One, High And Dry, Sinner/Saint
For The Fans Of: Relient K, Mayday Parade, Cartel
Listen: facebook.com/LetItHappenBand

Release date 09.09.2014
InVogue Records

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