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At the Spine:
The Curriculum is Never Neutral
The Curriculum is Never Neutral is the latest offering from singer-songwriter Mike Toschi. He is widely regarded in the Pacific Northwest's indie scene as a jack-of-all-trades who won't invest less than 100% of his effort in any project that has his name attached. Those familiar with Portland's Bit Part and The Help will recognize Toschi's talents as he lends his trademark intensity to his new band, At the Spine. The album immediately grabs hold of the listener when the grunge-inspired Second Hand succeeds at hinting at all the possible textures and layers in store for the listener. The majority of the cuts on the record can be classified as ballads in the vein of Metallica (post-...And Justice for All). Heartfelt lyrics and an earnest tone are at the core of the album's intentions, and songs like Sand in Your Teeth and Power Broker are reminders that you can have humility without embarrassing yourself. This album avoids what most singer-songwriters hold as their greatest fear: when honesty turns into whinery. Toschi can proudly claim that his album is free of moments where control is lost in order to paint an accurate portrait of suffering. Songs like "One-Five-One" and "Too Little/Too Late" are mapped out perfectly. They grab a hold of the listener's ears long enough to pop eardrums and when just that is done, the tenderness can reign supreme. Some of the songs on the record sound an awful lot like what Doug Martsch has released, but then again, if your sound is going to resemble another artist's, it might as well be someone like Martsch. Finally, it is possible that this album is too sweet and its melody might just be too endearing? This is surely one album where everything is tied up neatly by the end. For Middle of May and Dark Days, the last two tracks on the album, At the Spine reaches a level of closure that few achieve. Dark Days works especially well because Toschi's voice is at its most delicate, and it is this contrast from the hard-rocking numbers that proves the album's worth. It is indeed very reminiscent of certain Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin songs that are so gentle that a casual listener would not believe that a band that usually rocks so hard could ever perform anything else. Such is the case with The Curriculum is Never Neutral, so some reasonable advice would be that anyone searching for truth in music would be wise in seeking out this album.
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