I’m a little surprised at the approach taken by New Zealand’s musical brothers Aaron and Cameron Pollock and their fellow band members. Their album is well produced but seems to ignore any musical developments of the last ten years; choosing instead to draw on the trip-hop and electro-rock scenes of the mid-1990s. Still, there’s some decent material on show and above all, that’s what they should be judged on.
It has to be said that half of ‘Blood On The Lawn’ is quite dull. Kristin Brown has a good voice but with some uninspired electronic backing and lack of memorable hooks, the likes of ‘Yeah Nah’ and ‘Walk On’ sound like the kind of run of the mill female-fronted fare that was de rigeur ten years ago. ‘Not Too Keen On That View’ and the instrumental opener ‘Captains Of Industry’ celebrate rock guitars but their dated sounds don’t do the group any favours either.
Events become more interesting the more adventurous QuarterAcreLifestyle become. ‘What Would It Mean To You’ experiments with rhythm, electronica and jazz, Brown bites the words like she means it but - most importantly - the song boasts the first interesting melody. ‘Cold Heart’ is a successful attempt at emotive chill-out whilst beat-heavy instrumental ‘Spooky Jandal’ swingsmost agreeably. More interestingly, the only track to feature Cameron Pollock on vocals - the dreamy, glistening ’I Want To Be In Your Song’ - is possibly their best song. So it’s very much a mixed bag both in terms of style and quality but there’s enough here to suggest better times are ahead if they continue to experiment and develop their own identity.
Web Sites:
QuarterAcreLifestyle Official Site
QuarterAcreLifestyle MySpace
Further Listening:
Bench, Lhooq, Electron Love Theory, Gramophone
0 Responses to “Review: QuarterAcreLifestyle - Blood On The Lawn”