The Bottom Line: Meadowlands was much, much less interesting than I'd hoped. The vocals are uninspired and much too little-boy-brat-punk and the songs are dull.
lambchops's Full Review: The Meadowlands by The Wrens (Rock)
Hailing from New Jersey, the Wrens make what is purported to be introspective indie rockers. The four-man band released two albums on label Grass (1994's Silver and 1996's Secaucus) before being lost in a label shuffle.
Charles Bissell (vocals, guitar), Greg Whelan (guitar), Kevin Whelan (bass), and Jerry MacDonnell (drums) came together in 1989 as Low. Their name changed to the Wrens in about 1993. Early on, they earned comparisons to a variety of bands including My Bloody Valentine and Folk Implosion. Despite some critical acclaim all label attempts to make them sell out to mainstream interests the Wrens did not which in turn led to a seven-year hiatus. After four years of recording the resulting album was 2003's Meadowlands which found its way on to Absolutely Kosher records run by friend Cory Brown.
Meadowlands is a decent effort, though I've yet to completely understand what all the underground hype is for. The band is gallant in their effort but something less than convincing in their musical execution. The music is too loud, the vocals too soft, and the arrangements boring. I find it nearly impossible to distinguish one song from the next. This isn't to say I expected singles out of the band, but they don't manage to do anything for me that other bands haven't managed to do with more style, emotional honesty, or efficiency. Given that the band had four years to perfect their art and the fact that they were allowed complete creative freedom I expected more than generic and predictable indie-pop-rock fare.
I'm hard pressed to point to a single band or performer and say "The Wrens sound just like those guys." The fact is that they take elements from many acts (from the Wallflowers to Ben Folds to Folk Implosion to Cracker) and attempt to pass it off as their own. However, what I find most annoying are Bissell's annoying pouty-little-boy emo delivery. That layered on top the mid- to up-tempo lo-fi pop-rock arrangement makes for a completely predictable, annoyingly atonal, unbalanced and ultimately unrewarding experience. Based on the descriptions of and support for Meadowlands I expected to love it. In the end I moderately like a few parts of it--that's a major difference of opinion.
Meadowlands begins with brief track The House that Guilt Built. Punctuated by the sounds of nighttime in the country (breeze, crickets), it is a languid and milk offering. It is also one of the most effective offerings--in part because of its brevity and free-flowing nature. It lasts but a minute and a half and is then overtaken by the sounds of Happy. After the first song, I had hope for a good album but this track pretty much is the start of the end for me. Bissell's voice is not one that is meant to be hidden beneath layers of guitars and drums. This isn't to say I like his style, but at the same time it makes no sense why they even exist on a song where the obvious centerpiece is the guitar. I'm annoyed by the lack of arrangement and balance in the track. It is suppose to start mildly and build to some sort of climax, but the song is repetitive and dry. I just don't enjoy any part of it.
The Wrens change things up a bit with less obvious instrumentation (outside of the keyboards reminiscent of the Wallflowers) on She Sends Kisses. It is an album highpoint. While I can't say I'm entirely impressed with any of the performances, I do generally like the song. The emotion that the band attempts to sprinkle throughout their third album seems false. Bissell doesn't possess a great voice and while his delivery is supposed to be intimate, bittersweet, and melancholic it turns out being detached, dry, and unemotional. She Sends Kisses is more attractive because the song and weary emo delivery fit together decently.
The Boy is Exhausted and Hopeless do nothing for me. The former takes melodic cues from Weezer, but with a less direct and less entertaining delivery I'm completely unimpressed. The latter picks up the pace but is in the end incredibly dull. The sing-songy vocals, repetitive keyboards and percussion, and yawn-inducing melody do nothing for me. Fortunately, there is a slight reprieve with Faster Gun. It is musically the most interesting song of the album with a kicky melody, heavy guitars, and memorable arrangement. I'm still annoyed by the vocals, but in this case the song itself makes up for the problems with some of the other performances.
The middle part of Meadowlands is tedious to say the least. Thirteen Grand is a slow, plodding, and flat song. If the band picked up the pace a bit it would be a more interesting song, alas we're stuck with this recording. Boys, You Won't is full of feedback and grinding synthesizers that don’t fit with the rest of the album much less into the context of the song. I appreciate the band's attempt to try something different unfortunately it doesn't work. Ex-Girl Collection barely makes any impression--good or bad. The modest little song is simply forgettable, though they do make an obvious attempt to duplicate the successes of pop song from the Pixies or the Posies. Unfortunately, both of those bands are much more successful at the shtick.
Per Second Second is an improvement over many of the other songs. It is similar to many other songs of the recent "garage rock" movement though I'm once again bothered by the vocals that are almost entirely drowned out by over-instrumentation. The melody is good, but the production could be more careful. Everyone Choose Sides, 13 Months in 6 Minutes and finally This is Not What You Had Planned are all pretty unremarkable songs. The only positive thing I have to say is about 13 Months in 6 Minutes--I appreciate the alt-country feel and definitely think the band should investigate that musical avenue more fully.
Meadowlands is not all it was cracked up to be. I don't enjoy Bissell's voice, I don't think the songs are interesting, and I'm bored to tears by the repetitive nature of the melodies. I wanted to like the Wrens when I picked this album up a year ago. Unfortunately outside of a few moments on The House that Guilt Built, She Sends Kisses, Faster Gun, and Per Second Second there is little worth mentioning. Heck, not even those songs are that good.
Rating: 2/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. The House That Guilt Built
02. Happy
03. She Sends Kisses
04. The Boy is Exhausted
05. Hopeless
06. Faster Gun
07. Thirteen Grand
08. Boys, You Won't
09. Ex-Girl Collection
10. Per Second Second
11. Everyone Choose Sides
12. 13 Months in 6 Minutes
13. This is Not What You Had Planned
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