Was pretty surprised when I found out James Pants had another album out, not that he released one but I missed it completely. James Pants is pretty weird in the electronic music he produces with a range of instruments used per album he creates interesting electronic albums that at times explore other genres such as hip/hop and even rock. Now before we go any further there is a rule on this blog that only one pance can be involved in this album, so I guess I shall review in no pance.
Anyway this album is a little disappointing, theres moments that are cool and all but the overall feel from start to finish doesn't keep you interested or excited. There are great moments in this album sure, but you kind of get an underwhelming feel for this throughout. The first track on the album is something thats pretty strong for this album anyway titled Beta we get a strong electronic feel for the album to begin with, the keyboard being the most obvious part of that, it also includes a very rockish bass line and some nice noise rock guitar included.
If you've heard a James Pants album before you'll know he likes to play round with lots of different instruments and has many different ideas he portrays in many different songs. The meshing of genres is quite cool and interesting as its hard to tell what Mr Pants shall do next. As I have said there are moments that are cool in an overall underwhelming release, Clouds Over The Pacific for me is one of the bright moments on the album, with its minimal bass and drum beat with an almost atmospheric touch of organ keyboard. The beautiful vocals soar through the song, I feel this song is sweet enough to go on forever, unsurprisingly it doesn't and I'm ok with that. The back end of the track lifts and adds another layer of noise, this one much sharper than the rest to close out the album.
Next track reminds me of Passion Pit, A Little Bit Closer has the weird up beat distorted synthpop thang for the first half of the track with an Ariel Pink like vocals behind it, then half way through the track completely flips to a bass and drums instrumental piece with extra sounds added to beef it up. This is kind of interesting and intriguing if your new to him but a seasoned Pants man will not be overly surprised about his change in style mid song.
The album continues to go through different music genres, retro pop, rock, electronic being the most noticable and sometimes you will get these all the one song, James Pants backs this up with experimenting with the vocals style, sometimes clean, sometimes distorted, sometimes its not even him. There aren't a lot of overall songs that I enjoy but most have moments of brilliance which still makes it worth the listens, its just a shame this isn't at the same level an album like Seven Seals is for me which I love.
Overall Rating: 6.5/10
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