DANCE OF THE GOODBYES

Amoeba Split is a band out of norther Spain with some great jazzy instrumental rock. Well before recording this album, the band recorded a three-song EP with vocals on every track by Maria Toro. Those three songs make it onto this album, with the remaining tracks all instrumental. I actually think the band's compositions are very musical, and all of the instrumentals - the songs written specifically for this album - are real keepers. This includes the excellent opener "Dedicated to Us, But We Weren't Listening" (an obvious paen to the Softs similarly-titled tune) and "Turbulent Matrix" and the brief "Qwerty". However, the vocal tracks don't fit very well in this mix. There is first the contrast in style. Whereas the instrumental tracks are composed around the interaction between the organ/flute melodies and a more complex rhythm section, on the vocal tunes when the singing happens (which is often) the vocals become the structuring instrument, and the band is more like backup. Secondly, the lyrics are not very good. I think the band realized this, and this is why their follow-up to this album is strictly instrumental. Finally, while the singing sounds mostly decent on two of the three vocal tracks ("Perfume Garden" and "Blessed Water"), on the long epic suite "Flight to Nowhere" they just don't work, and even get out of tune in places. That long tune is hard to listen to, actually. There are some good instrumental sections in all thee of the vocal songs, and if they had just kept them instrumental they would have worked better. So, overall, this album is a bit unsatisfying. There is lots of promise, mainly in the instrumental tracks, and indeed there is some great music on this album. However, the album is not consistent, and it ends on the weakest track and it just goes on too long. Thankfully things get better with their follow-up. I give this album 6.2 out of 10 on my 10-point scale, which translates to lower 3 PA stars.

Share this AMOEBA SPLIT review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Walkscore
• Report this review (#1843283)
• Buy AMOEBA SPLIT music online with PA partners
• Show all AMOEBA SPLIT MP3/Stream
• Go to AMOEBA SPLIT page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Dance of the Goodbyes page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for AMOEBA SPLIT related discussions