And now for something slightly different.
Recently, to be fair, there has been a trend for all bands to sound more or less the same: rehashes of punkish new wave mixed with offbeat ska rhythms with a good helping of big meaty production to ensure that radio stations play it. And, while there is nothing wrong with this formula per se, it is something that, eventually, hampers your enjoyment of new bands, irrespective of what they actually do for you. A band that releases something that is different and refreshing would actually have to do very little in the way of aesthetic excellence to get noticed. But, as with all things, would this necessarily make them good?
This is the question that one finds themselves asking upon hearing “Sea From Shore”. From the opening, looped vocal utterances that make not one but three reprises throughout the album, its clear to see that, while not actually sounding like a pioneering, breakthrough act, School of Language are at least trying. There is the normal mix of conventional rock and electronica here in spades, from dirty bass lines, drum machines and computer generated twinkles aplenty all over every one of the tracks. And while not exactly sounding as full bodied and brash as Christina Aguilera's Dirrty, there is some kind of vague kinship between them.
And this is where the main problem of “Sea From Shore” lies. The sound of the album is almost an artistic triumph • a clear statement of creative freedom that sails in the face of convention and takes no prisoners. If it sells it sells, but if not then we did it our way. Except it doesn't quite pull this off. When dealing with this kind of thing, production is an important factor and the simple fact of the matter is that this sounds overproduced and overbaked to an almost crispy, blackened finish. You can also imagine the studio sessions being governed by a spreadsheet of all things that are needed to make a good album • every bass line, drum beat, guitar tone and vocal effect is all nice, but textbook. Given the premise that is laid out in the excellent opener, its somewhat jarring.
Luckily for School of Language however, they do have the tunes. From the Pink Floyd-lite “Keep Your Water” right through to the bouncy romper “Extended Holiday”, one is presented with an collection of songs that is not all that memorable, but great fun while it lasts. More importantly “Sea From Shore” sounds like a proper album that takes you on a musical journey rather than just throws a motley crew of kitsch melodies together with no reference of what came before and no concern for what is to come. In this age of radio friendly singles and mediocre albums that house them, an album that one cannot pick out singles or standout tracks is somewhat of a triumph.
In spite of its faults and over indulgences, “Sea From Shore” is a winner. It may not quite go as far as you'd like it to in terms of pure invention, but the sheer quality of songwriting and crafting is obvious for even the most ignorant of listeners. School of Language are almost certainly a band worth keeping an eye on as maturity and experience may well lead to true greatness but as for now, this is a perfectly decent album and one that is recommended to all those bogged down by the mainstream and looking for something a bit (though not a lot) different.