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Allday Afternoon: Open Ended
Here we have another above average college frat band! I mean, thats not necessarily a bad thing. The UNC Chapel Hill based Allday Afternoon have come out with a highly-decent full length album, Open Ended. Its an overly catchy, acoustic guitar- jamming album, saturated with melodic vocals and college angst (lost love, confusing relationships, moving on with ones life, etc.). If youre looking for innovative music and fresh sounds, this album is probably not for you. This album joins the already saturated, but not yet over played, emotional guys with guitars genre. I never get tired of it, and Opened Ended has plenty of pining lyrics weaved over capo-ed chords to make me happy. The first song, I Couldnt Find, is straightforward, and its unapologetic multi-guitar intro is reminiscent of most, if not all, Guster songs, while the guitar effects and background vocals remind me of Toad the Wet Sprocket. Most of the other songs on the album written by Alex Rhodes and Joel Turner such as, Boomerang, Believe, and You Left, have the same odd mix of Guster-ish guitars and Toad-ish background vocals that really flows well for them. The songs written by KJ Straub like Dive Inside and Left Me Guessing are definitely more edgy than the other songs on the album. (They would sound different of course, since they were written by a different person). They have more of an alt-rock feel with more power chords and a slightly more radio-friendly voice with KJ himself on lead vocals. Left Me Guessing, is my favorite song on the album because of the layered musical effect; every instruments contribution blends exceptionally well, and the addition of Grae Baker on keys really makes the song stand out among the rest. Somebody Tell Me, their self named most adventurous song of the album, does separate itself slightly from the other songs on the album as a result of using a drum machine and sound effects, which do add a cool eighties-synthesizer element. However, when you boil it down, it still sounds like a straightforward college rock song. Allday Afternoons background vocals and their ability to harmonize definitely stand out on the album. In fact, I think we should hear more of them! Songs like Somebody Tell Me and Hazy have the background levels too low for my liking. The bands vocals are too melodic to leave as merely echoes on the album, or at a live show for that matter. My only criticism is one that will most probably fade away with the passage of time and familiarity. As far as liking one college jam band over another, you have to look for some distinguishing factor. Vocals are a big deal, and I think Alex Rhodes hasnt settled into what he can and cant do with his voicesomething that will come with growing up and more shows. You can trace the progression with a lot of vocalists; as much as I love Dave Matthews, he had one hell of a whiny voice some years ago. I thoroughly enjoyed this album, and I think they did one hell of a job with their debut full-length release. The diversity of song-writers definitely allows for variation, albeit small, among sounds from one song to the next. In other words, the album didnt get caught in the every-song-sounds-the-same rut, so it was easy to let the record play from start to finish. It wouldnt surprise me to hear these guys on the radio soon; theyve definitely got what it takes to proverbially make it, if thats what Allday Afternoon is going for.
This album can be purchased at CD Street. LEFT OFF THE DIAL's Allday Afternoon page About LOTD Contact/Staff Advertise Home All content © LEFT OFF THE DIAL 2001-2005. All rights reserved. |
