So far I have enjoyed all of my travel albums. It's true that The Triffids' 'Born Sandy Devotional' wasn't quite as great as I had hoped and the records by Wavves and The Living End both had their flaws, but they have all been good albums that I will continue to play for years to come. Disappointingly, New Magnetic Wonder bucks that trend and I won't be listening to it all the way through again. At least I hope not.
From what I had heard about The Apples In Stereo, I was expecting a poppy, catchy, fun record that would hopefully provide the perfect soundtrack to my whimsical travels down the East Coast. New Magnetic Wonder is both poppy and catchy, but unfortunately it's not much fun, as I have several major qualms with the album:
Firstly, there are a large number of interlude-style pieces on here which are less than a minute long. As a result, this 50 minute album is made up of 24 tracks! These short tracks are mostly instrumental, none of them are the slightest bit memorable, and I really don't understand their purpose. It would make sense if they aided the flow of the album or help make it sound like a complete piece of work, but in fact they do the opposite. For instance, after the upbeat 'Sunndal Song' I had to sit through five of these random little tracks before getting to the next proper song. It's like the band are trying to make the album seem so original and sophisticated, when really it's just a collection of simple, repetitive songs fleshed out to the max. Worst of all, one of the short filler tracks is titled 'Non-Pythagorean Composition 1', which for a pointless 26 second drone of noise is so pretentious it beggars belief. Then, the album ends with 'Non-Pythagorean Composition 3', leaving a sour taste in my mouth. What happened to 'Non-Pythagorean Composition 2'? Did it ever exist or is this numbering a further scheme of The Apples In Stereo to make themselves seem smart?
Secondly, lead singer Robert Schneider's voice can be rather grating. Occasionally it is alright, but most of the time it is a sneer that gets annoying very fast. Female vocalist Hilary Sidney takes the lead on a couple of tracks, providing a welcome changeup, but her voice isn't allowed to shine, as I will explain during my third complaint...
There is just too much going on during these songs. Most of the proper tracks are repetitive with simple lyrics, yet all manner of instruments and layers of backing vocals, often distorted, are thrown recklessly into the mix creating a messy sound that can be exhausting to listen to. Take the chorus of 'Sunndal Song' for example - the strange distorted voice singing along with Hilary Sidney and that annoying buzzing noise ruin what would otherwise be quite a pleasing song. In music I believe that less is often more - how many awesome songs are made up of only three chords, or are just one person and a guitar? - here, a bit less of everything would have resulted in a more listenable experience.
I should say some nice things about New Magnetic Wonder, because it isn't all bad and I've been very rude so far, but then The Apples In Stereo bring it upon themselves for thinking they are so amazingly clever. 'Energy' is a great song. Bouncy, joyful and very simple, it's just an infectious tune. 'Beautiful Machine (Parts 3-4)' is another track I'll be replaying, as it soars to a majestic instrumental climax. Besides those two, there are maybe one or two other songs I won't be in a hurry to skip if they come up on shuffle, such as the energetic first track.
It's not like I haven't given this album a chance to grow on me - I've struggled through the whole thing four or five times and each listen has been frustrating. There are numerous songs that I start out enjoying, but then they keep repeating themselves and more and more sounds get added until it becomes infuriating and I just want it to stop. 'Same Old Drag' and 'Open Eyes' are two of many examples, the latter painfully stretching out for over five minutes. So I believe this could have been the really poppy, catchy, fun album I was hoping for if the pointless tracks were axed and the actual songs stripped down and then shortened, resulting in a total duration of 35 minutes of less. However, in its current state New Magnetic Wonder is a difficult listen.
4/10
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