Atlantic Fall, The - Self-Titled (Album)
Melbourne indie outfit The Atlantic Fall, having only formed in 2010, have already released their debut album. The self titled affair from the three piece is firmly in the soft rock part of the indie umbrella. The band claim on their Triple J unearthed page that the album is the culmination of twelve months work on stage and in the studio. In short they’re putting a lot of pressure on themselves.
Upon listening to the disc, the first thing that will strike you is lead vocalist/guitarist Gavin Smith’s voice. It sounds instantly familiar. The closest comparison I can think of is the frontman of Irish soft rockers Snow Patrol; Gary Lightbody. Perhaps with a slightly more husky edge. More like Lightbody on a pack a day.
Like Snow Patrol, The Atlantic Fall are pretty much easy listening. There’s nothing here to offend or to stop you putting it on as a bit of nice background music. The debut showcases some lovely songwriting from Smith with some touching lyrical sentiments strewn throughout the record. The only problem with the easy listening nature of this release, is that it flows on from one song to the next without any song in particular jumping out to grab your attention.
One of the reasons the album or it’s tracks fail to grab you is that I feel the singer Smith is holding back and doesn’t want to test his vocal range. If he and his fellow band members took a few more risks this album could have been much better. It isn’t bad by any stretch, it just feels a bit ‘vanilla’ due to the lack of original ideas and risks.
‘Falling Away’ is the first track to give you an impression of what’s to come. It is a little more upbeat and fast paced compared to what follows. It’s the best track on the disc, as the first track so often is. Again my reason for this is that Smith seems to push himself vocally more than the soft nature of subsequent songs.
‘All Over The World’ is one that stands out more than most due to it’s grittier instrumentation. You really feel the guitars more than other tracks and the song benefits from this.
Overall the album is carefully constructed, and I hate to repeat this, but I just wish the band had taken some risks with it. If they had I feel they could have made a really standout album with more memorable tracks. Those who really dig soft indie rock may lap this up, but for others it might just feel like an album that just didn’t quite reach it’s obvious potential.
