Album Review - Tindersticks - The Hungry Saw
As an album of twelve tracks and 45 minutes long the only words used that could possibly describe this release are dull, lifeless, unemotional, tenuous, boring, snooze worthy and pretty much crap!
You can tell from listening to the album there is a lot of potential stored away within the music and vocals, but all you ever really hear is a slice of talent with the piano or strings. The rainy days are here and have been here for a while so what ever has been stored up for such an occasions should really be let lose. Unfortunately there is noting breathtaking or stimulating or at all interesting.
The ‘Introduction’ was a good start with the gentle piano keys and other mellow elements. I had high hopes at first. Maybe this was to be an album of soft and tender tunes full of passion and emotion. Those were my impressions and expectations from the first few minutes. As ‘Yesterdays Tomorrows’ began with the muffled vocals and fairly stationary beat I actually found myself yawning at three in the afternoon. ‘The Flicker Of A Little Girl’ sounded more like something from the 60s. With such a strange title I expected something more from ‘Boobar Come Back To Me’ but all that was attached was a miniature beat that did not do much to entertain; a dreary love song at best. When it comes to ‘All The Love’, you could actually forget you are listening to it. Musically based ‘E-type’ was bland and ‘The Organist Entertains’ barely does what the title suggests.
On a (barely) brighter note, the mix of piano keys sounds ‘Come Feel The Sun’ holds is pretty good even if a little slow for my liking. Likewise, the beat of ‘The Hungry Saw’ is bearable; harmonies also find a place to settle. As the album comes to a conclusion, ‘The Turns We Took’, a track with a few decent harmonies, seems to be the way to go out.
On this release there is one track that sums the album up as a whole - ‘Mother Dear’. If you listen to this track you’ll get an impression of the album in its entirety. It begins low, practically acoustic with the monotonous vocals. There’s a pounding within the distance, but never makes an effort to come forth with any emotional effect while a few guitar pings enter as if a sound check is taking place next door and accidentally imparted its way onto this number.
The entire album sounds like there is something holding the band back, something that restricts them from pushing all the boundaries and really making one heck of a record. What we are left with is a dull, uninteresting and lifeless record that made practically no impact on this reviewer.