BULLETS IN MADISON

Bullets In Madison is a cool project worth pretty much any listeners time (plus they release their albums for free!) and although this isn't where the ideal starting point is for then, it's certainly not a bad album.

Yes, there are some minor fuzz problems but the tracks themselves are well performed and powerful just like the band's later releases. They are Class A post-rock but never sound too much like another post-rock band (which some of them have trouble with) and all of their work on this album is incredibly original and thoughtful. As a whole, the album sounds like a great post rock record in need of some production but then again, some like the lo-fi sound.

It's amazing that so many of the free albums never cease to blow me away.

The first 4 tracks run together seamlessly to create a suite of songs that show both the heavy and ambient sides of the band. 'The Closest We Are, The Closest We've Been' starts of the album on a Piano driven ambient rock note with loud drums and a great vocal performance, the next 2 tracks continue in a similar vain. 'The Few White Seconds' ends it on a beautiful purely ambient note. This is the albums highlight for me, a peaceful soundscape with a beautiful female vocal and lots of amazing sounds. These 2 song styles continue to be explored through the rest of the album with 'Static (F.Y.C)' 'Motel Lot' and 'White Sheets' particular highlights

Overall this album is highly recommended, the music is strong all the way through the album and gets a solid 4 Stars from me for such great quality and in production of the album and in the music itself. This album can also be downloaded for Free or a donation from the bands page at bandcamp.

I like the part in "Impossible Grave" with the handclaps when the vocals come in. "Joel Found His Angel Cowering In The Garden" begins with some spoken word. Drums come in later and then it's instrumental. "Riots" sounds like a cross betwwen Radiohead and U2, which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your tastes. "St. Jude" has cool drum machine programming. Nice vocals in this song as well. "Crimes" has some neat glockenspiel(?) and some good drumming at the end.

Overall, this is a good modern rock album, but nothing very challenging or original. Sometimes it sounds like a more progressive Arcade Fire. Recommended to those who like modern vocal oriented post-rock. I thought the playing and sound in general was very well done, but nothing about the compositions themselves were very memorable. A decent effort nonetheless. 3 stars.

Post rock is a genre I feel unsure about, being a middle aged man. I am fine with death and black metal, not to mention grindcore. But I still feel too old for post rock. The type of music Bullets In Madison plays.

This album is a free download too and I simply cannot understand why none of my able bodied, brainy fellow PA members has reviewed it before me. OK, that being a rant from a grumpy old man, but this album should really be a pretty big hit here in PA. Rant over.

The music here is deeply rooted in the world of Sigur Ros. Add some Radiohead too and you get this album. Bullets In Madison does not write songs. They paint songs. Big wall to wall sound painting with themes drawn out over several minutes. Riffs ? Hardly any. Themes ? There is ten of them. As many as there are tracks here.

Their paint brushes is guitars, sorrow filled vocals, some keyboards, violins (sampled ?), bass and drums. All of them competently played and very effective applied over the whole canvas.

Quality wise, this album is actually very good. My only gripe and this is a major gripe is the lack of any really great paintings (sometimes called songs/melodies) here. Hence I am reigning in my stars. But as a free download, you cannot go wrong with this album and it is one of the better free downloads out there. I am keeping an eye on this band, although I am probably too old for this genre.

3.5 stars