Fjord Rowboat
Save the Compliments For Morning
Self-Released
Let’s face it, some music we like simply because it fills the need we have for a certain sound or a certain long dormant band’s archetype. To acknowledge this fact doesn’t automatically diminish what that stand-in band accomplishes, but it also doesn’t mean that the new purveyors of your favorite sounds will ultimately stack up with your original preferences. Such is the case with Fjord Rowboat; the band is a near perfect hybridization of math rock all-stars Minus the Bear and shoegaze/Americana Early Day Miners. The group brings languid echoes like the autumn rain of “Shootin’ the Breeze” and choppy riffery “Carried Away” in equal measure, grafting quiet/loud volume and tempo shifts while steering clear of alt rock cliche. The above-mentioned tracks along with “Paragon” and “Can’t See the Sun” are nearly perfect hook-filled indie rock compositions, more muscular than Death Cab or The Shins, but smoother than the Arcade Fire or Modest Mouse’s jitters. Unfortunately this great start doesn’t hold for the remainder of the album which suffers from a lack of variation in the band’s pulsing rhythm and melodic leads, and risks dragging the disc into redundancy. The shortcomings of Save the Compliments For Morning don’t leave the slightest of bad tastes in the mouth, it’s just simply better in small doses.
Fjord Rowboat: http://www.fjordrowboat.com
