The Almost - Southern Weather
Rating
RIYL
AcceptanceAnberlin
Relient K
Switchfoot
Tracklist
1. Say This Sooner2. Drive There Now!
3. Dirty and Left Out
4. I Mostly Copy Other People
5. Southern Weather
6. Stop It!
7. Amazing, Because It Is
8. Everyone Here Smells Like a Rat
9. Never Say, I Told You So
10. Call Back When I'm Honest
11. Everything That Makes Me Sick
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Lately, it seems like everyone is jumping on the side project bandwagon. For those keeping score at home, so far we’ve had The Prizefighter Inferno (Claudio Sanchez / Coheed and Cambria), Anchor & Braille (Stephen Christian / Anberlin), and Dustin Kensrue (Thrice). Probably feeling left out of the side-project party, Aaron Gillespie from Underoath has decided to conjure up his own little group of minstrels called The Almost, a project that certainly draws many comparisons to his current band, but is definitely a lot more radio friendly.
On Southern Weather, Aaron recorded everything on the album from the guitars to the drums to the vocals. However, let it be known that he did get some help from Kenny Vasoli of The Starting Line on a few tracks. While Aaron's musical undertaking might sound like a task worthy of a high-five, it ends up being one of the factors that led to the downfall of this album. There’s really no diversity when it comes to the songwriting and because of this, much of the record ends up sounding the same. That isn't to say there aren’t catchy songs, they just unfortunately suffer from a lack of substance.
Although there are some duds on this disc, it does offer some stellar melodic tunes. For example, the lead single “Say This Sooner” will easily push this album into the mainstream. It has everything that makes for a hit single: catchy chorus, vibrant vocals, and an energetic melody. Where The Almost, or should I say Aaron, really shines is actually on the two slower tracks, “Dirty and Left Out” and “Amazing Because It Is”. Gillespie’s uplifting crooning will definitely pick your spirits up, even if you don't buy into the religious overtones. Just like Anberlin’s “Fin”, at the end of “Amazing Because It Is”, there is the featuring of a church choir singing “Amazing Grace”. It gives the song a very climatic end that definitely makes this the most memorable song on the album. Jeremy Engik (of Sunny Day Real Estate) also drops by to lend a helping hand in the vocal department on “Dirty and Left Out” providing for a seamless mesh of dual vocal melody.
At the end of the day, this album is probably going to sell quite well. Tooth & Nail and Virgin Records are riding high on this because they know with Aaron’s ties to Underoath, they already have a buying market and kids these days will eat this stuff up like candy.
--Chris Conlan
Comments
Cincinnasty, OH
Dubuque
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Waterloo, Ontario
Top Ten of 2009 http://www.decoymusic.com/users/3747/top_tens/2009
There were a few other tracks, one of them being the title-track, that are pretty awesome. But like you said the rest didn't really stickout and sounded too samish. Anyhow I would still say this is an album worth buying if you are a fan of Aaron Gillespie's work with Underoath. Souther Weather is still an enjoyable catchy album despite its flaws.
Bedford, OH
rasta
Manchester, England
dirty and left out is such an amazing track.