After two acclaimed EPs, FTW’s much-delayed debut album is certainly impressive?but, like the ludicrous Polyphonic Spree, somewhat overstated. Caked in strings, horns, mellotrons and shrieking operatics, nearly every track is epic or stately enough to close most other band’s albums.
They even wrap it with clunky trip hop. There are passages of fractured beauty on “Losing Carolina; For Drusky” and “Donald Pleasance”, but these are still poor compensations for either songs or trailblazing. Instead, they fall somewhere between Mercury Rev’s billowing drama and Sparklehorse’s witchy atmospherics.
A case of mistaking ambition for ability.
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