Despite the hazy cosmic harmonies and dreamlike melodies, 'Tower of Love' fails to excite...
Steadily releasing a string of E.Ps since late 2004, My Dad Recordings have compiled tracks from each of these E.Ps, as well as some new material, to form Jim Noir's first full-length album, 'Tower of Love'.
The album opens with 'My Patch', full of over-lapping, harmonized vocals and bouncy piano chords, giving an the track an instantly cosmic, dreamy atmosphere, which combined with its plucked strings, a sauntering rhythm of shuffling beats and hissing cymbals, can't help but remind you of the Beatles, The Beach Boys, Super Furry Animals by turns, and in spite of irritatingly repetitive lyrics, it's almost impossible not to find your hips shaking by the end of the song.
'I'm Me You I'm Your' is painfully catchy and with more examples of Noir's hazy, cosmic voice, while anyone who has ever used a PC can relate to the sentiments of the humorous 'Computer Song' with its electronic beats and swirling vocals. However, 'How To Be So Real' and 'Eanie Meany', despite their warm vocals and laid-back vibes, sadly don't amount to much more than lifeless clouds of fuzzy, atmospheric harmonies, with repetitive lyrics that leave a lot to be desired. 'Tower of Love' (the only track that stands out amongst the fog of hazy, Beach Boys-esque warbling) is a curious, purely instrumental track that conjures up images of ghostly ballroom dancers waltzing up and down a sea-side pier with its blurry, waltz-like sway.
If you're a fan of The Beach Boys, Beatles, Super Furry Animals or Pink Floyd, then perhaps you'll enjoy the warm, atmospheric, slightly cosmic aspect of this album. If not though, 'Tower of Love' can easily become a cloudy mass of irritatingly repetitive, undefined spaced-out haze. 'Noirvana'? Not quite.