If someone labels something 'definitively' and then follows it up with an era like, say, the 90's, I think there's a part of our brain that in instantly split. On one hand, it's nice to have something sound like the past, on the other hand, it's disappointing they couldn't try something new, and had to regress to an older sound to make things work. With Frozen Time, Duco mostly succeeds in harnessing the positive side of this conundrum.
Funny thing is Duco does sound like they're from the 90's, finding common ground with acts like The Stone Roses and more alternative American fair like The Breeders. They manage to mesh these different, yet similar, sounds together to at least make something relatively original.
"Behind The Curtain" and "Silent Peaks" stand out over the other tracks in the album because of their ability to pull of the 'laid-back cool' sound so many slacker bands used to employ in the 90's. I can just envision these tunes playing in the background while I slug a beer back on a cloudless day at the beach, not having a care in the world (I don't really have many cares at all, but it would almost diminish them completely). They're that cool, and that's a term I rarely use to describe anything.
Duco does manage to try other things with tracks like "Doors Of Perception", but more often then not I found most songs to have a similar structure to them. The chord progression also sounds the same on a few tracks, and that diminishes their strength overall, but it really isn't that big a deal. If people could forgive The Ramones for having nearly every single song of theirs being the same as the last, then we should do just fine with giving Duco a break.
Frozen In Time is a nice listen, and while is wanders into familiar waters too often, it doesn't diminish it's lasting value too much. If you're into feeling that old careless vibe again, or simply never let go of it, I'd say check out this album today. - Shane
No comments:
Post a Comment