PlayRadioPlay! - Texas
Rating
RIYL
The Postal Servicehellogoodbye
The Secret Handshake
Tracklist
1. Loco Commotion2. I’m a Pirate, You’re a Princess
3. Some Crap about the Furniture
4. Madi Don’t Leave
5. Without Gravity
6. See You Soon
7. I’m Afraid There’s a Hole in my Brain
8. More of the Worst
9. My Attendance is Bad, But My Intentions are Good
10. Corner Office Bedroom
11. Forgiveness, the Enviable Trait
12. Texas
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It’s safe to say the realm of electro-tinged pop has become a little over-saturated. It seems every kid with access to a keyboard and a copy of Give Up wants their shot at MySpace stardom. One kid who certainly reached those heady heights is Dan Hunter, whose bleep bleep ballads under the moniker PlayRaioPlay! garnered a gazillion profile views (the 21st century version of hipsters assuredly nodding their heads at your shows) and a major label contract.
Just as his debut EP Transmission floundered, Hunter’s first LP proper Texas comes to us a rather underwhelming affair as well. As opener “Loco Commotion” comes in, you may be forgiven for thinking you are in fact listening to Luniz’ tour de force “I Got Five On It”. However as the song, and also the album as a whole progresses, it is apparent that this is merely a collection of mediocre electro pop songs.
The majority of tracks on Texas serve to prove two main things about PlayRadioPlay!: Hunter is more than capable of creating enjoyable, bubbly melodies as much as he is capable of marring these with his grating vocals and naive lyrics. “I’m a Pirate, You’re a Princess” being a prime example of this. The album's standout moments are both found on the same track: “Some Crap About The Furniture” in the form of the main song’s fuzzy Moog-driven bassline, and the outro’s bizarrely Mew-esque vocals and atmospherics, unfortunately an inspiration never returned to. But even this track is stunted by Hunter’s rather unfortunate lyrics; “You were the best thing Summer gave me, better than silence and no school”.
The album as a whole suffers from being a little too vapid and repetitive, and offers little that would prompt a listener to return to it immediately. Much as was the case with the earlier Mew homage, the title track is a lovely minute long ode to Hunter’s home, complete with lo-fi keys and boy/girl vocals and, if built upon, could’ve resulted in a much more appealing album.
I must say, I really can’t see this album doing anything in the mainstream; it contains no standout radio-friendly hits, and really doesn’t strike as a collection of songs that would hold the casual listener for more than four or five songs. My advice to Mr. Hunter is to return to your old demos, rediscover what created your buzz, and don’t let yourself become another victim of the major label curse.
--Alex Davies
Comments
Bedford, OH
But I still love it.
rasta
Cincinnasty, OH
Manchester, England
I was really dissapointed with his full length at first, but lately it's been growing on me more and more. and Summer of 98 is every summer's anthem from now on.
West Haven, CT
The Cityscape Burns Brighter By The Hour.
West Haven, CT
Everybody will write chourse...If they want to be famous.
The Cityscape Burns Brighter By The Hour.
Manchester, England
i definitely preferred his old demos.