How many people thought Funeral Party were gonna be golden titties after that single? You know the one… that single. The one about sounds in different cities of America… New York, LA… with lots of guitars and yelling and stuff? It was great, and it was hard not to be pretty darn-tooten excited about their album. They kind of sounded like The Vines 2.0 – the Windows Vista model. The Golden Age Of Knowhere is still a very good album, but not as gutsy as one may’ve hoped it might be.
It certainly sounds like Funeral Party want to be a rock ‘n’ roll band, but also still want to be relevant, so the songs all have an element of subtle electronica about them. Car Wars is a good example of this, with its rugged vocals backed by slightly tepid music, making for an ‘almost there’ kind of feel. Finale is also a pretty sweet song, but only because it is in the same vein as Car Wars.
Most of the songs also err on the side of balladry, with angsty lyrics and melodies. Once the listener acknowledges that the album isn’t going to be to similar to the hit single (that’d be the ultra-catchy New York Moves To The Sound Of LA for those in the cheap seats) it becomes a bit better, but it is a tad boring… which is annoying more than anything, because we may’ve gotten sucked into the whole ‘buzz band’ thing.
The album finishes with title track, The Golden Age Of Nowhere, which is easily the album’s best track. The drumbeat keeps changing and evolving throughout the track while the guitars and vocals expand and retract keeping the emphasis on the bananas as drums. All in all it’s a solid disc, but tracks tend to slide in and out of each other to the point where you’re not really sure when one starts and one ends. But, yeah: shit’s alright.
Best Track: The Golden Age Of Knowhere
If You Like These You’ll Like: THE STROKES, I’d imagine.
In A Word: Almost
JACK PARSONS
