As I make my way through my fourth or fifth spin of the whole album, and this time with headphones on again, I've got to give a special shout-out to Dave Meros and his killer bass playing on this album. He really stands-out on this one and in SO many good ways.
Also, the great use of brass, strings, and other non-rock instruments is really well executed on this album. They really help set this band apart from Spock's Beard, giving the band its own identity separate from the band they're probably more well-known for. The progression of these three albums is very apparent and they're really settling into their own sound really well.
"Time Has A Way" has been a stand-out for me so far, but it's still quite early on and I haven't really fully connected with every song yet, despite realllllly enjoying each one. I will say I love the vibe of "Just Another Day At The Beach" (the second bonus track), as it has a fun, quirky side to it that songs from their first two albums kind of have.
Over-all, this one is a STRONG contender for AOTY for me, right up there with BBT's Welcome To The Planet, but I still have releases from Porcupine Tree and The Tangent coming up this summer, so who knows where these first-half-of-the-year albums will land when New Years reaches us in nine months!
I'm eager to see which songs from their three albums they will play live this spring, and if they're planing to put out a live album! With three albums' worth of material to start off touring with, they certainly don't need to resort to covers, and I hope they don't. Their material is strong enough to fill out a whole 2-2.5 hour concert considering they have over 173 minutes of music already! They've got one of the best Debut-To-Third album runs I've heard in recent years, and I cannot wait to hear what they put out next (especially if they continue making music almost every year as originally planned).
-Marc.