Album: You are Here | Band: Thenewno2

Track by Track

1) So Vain 6/10
2) Another John Doe 9/10
3) Back to You 7/10
4) Give you Love 7.5/10
5) Bluesy 5/10
6) Yomp 10/10
7) Hiding Out 3/10
8) Crazy Tuesday 7/10
9) Idle Lover 6/10
10) Shelter 6.5/10
11) Wind up Dead 7.5/10

Overall 6.8/10

Now, i did say that numbers are arbitrary, and they are, which is why you should be reading what I'm writing to get why i rated the songs that way. First i got to say that this is a debut album, which is no excuse because i've heard good debut albums before e.g. Cold War Kids' album Robbers & Cowards (review at a later date). The reason why i say this is because i had to tell myself this constantly so i wouldn't yell at the music.

So, the first couple of songs are staying with the theme of a calm-techno sort of feel. It feels like a band out of the 60s and 70s era music where you'd put the CD on and smoke some grass on the side. But then you get a taste of things to come in "Give You Love." They switch it up to a heavier sound, however, they manage to keep a calmer feel. It was a new thing, but completely different from the rest of the album. Ironically, the best song "Yomp" is almost entirely a heavy-calm-techno sound. They--for a band that is supposedly a calm-techno, notice the not heavy--really have a good feel for that heavy sound, but manage to keep it calm, which really aids the music. There are also a couple tracks where they seem that they are trying to much, namely the later half, excluding "Yomp."

So overall, there are only a couple of songs that seem to follow Thenewno2's formula, the others that don't fit their own formula seem to have very polarizing results: they either make you want to listen to it again and again, or they make you want to just hit the next button on your ipod. If you were to buy this album, or suggest a couple of songs for friends to listen to off this album, i would go with "Another John Doe" and "Yomp," as those two seem to have that "it" factor that everyone wants.

Also, the next Album, will be Between the Buried and Me's album Colors, hopefully within a day or two. Any suggestions for new albums to review will be appreciated.