Despite their strangely familiar-sounding name, I’d never heard of the Dead Trees before Fishbulb challenged me to review their 2011 album, Whatwave. A quick googling[1] revealed that they’d toured with Albert Hammond Jr from the Strokes. Upon listening to the first few songs, I realized that, fortunately, their connection to the Strokes didn’t end there. You could argue that many bands today sound like the Strokes, but the Dead Trees were reminiscent, while also possessing a laid back retro-sounding quality.
Next, “My Time Has Just Begun” wags a finger at people who waste their lives chasing superficial, materialistic pursuits. At this point in the album, I first started to detect a definite Beatles influence. It’s subtle at first, but stands out the more I think about it[2]. The Dead Trees do a rather good job of recreating the sound from that particular era. Their melodies may be reminiscent of the Beatles, but at certain times, their tone is dead on. I wouldn’t be surprised if the bassist used a violin-shaped Hofner bass on some of the songs[3]. The initial galloping drums and rolling guitar lick of “Rayna” gives way to a tempo-changing bridge that is very derivative of the “Mean Mr. Mustard” portion of the Abbey Road medley. “Arrows” achieves the laid back, West -coast swagger of Stephen Malkmus with Pavement, only without the adventurous sense of spontaneity. Another indicator of Beatles-aping is the intro of “Play Your Hand”, which sounds like “Get Back” mashed up with “It Ain’t Me” by CCR[4].
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love both of those bands, but I’m starting to feel like the Dead Trees are too comfortable playing around in the established sounds of others. What results from this is music that is very palatable and, at times, effectively catchy, but ends up sounding underdeveloped and overly safe to my ears after repeated listens. The first few tracks of Whatwave whetted my appetite to explore a new, yet familiar sound, but I feel like I was expecting a climax that never arrived[5]. The band can competently change tempos and musical gears, even mid-song, but there seems to be some dynamic missing from their music that is leaving me unfulfilled. It’s almost as if they’re going through the motions, hitting all the right notes, but with little feeling. A good example of this is the little guitar solo near the end of “World Gone Global”. It starts off pretty enough, but ends with a series of unconvincing bends. This could just be me, but it sounds like they’re there because “that’s what you do in these types of guitar solos”, rather than adding anything to the song. Similarly, the vocals use the same casual delivery on almost every song, despite somewhat dark lyrics complaining about aging, creeping suburbs, and entitled youths[6].
Ultimately, I like Whatwave. It’s a good album from a promising young band with all the right influences. It seems like an excellent album to play at the end of summer while relaxing outdoors with a few friends and few more beers. This can be attributed to its catchiness and broad appeal, but also its ability to become background noise. That’s not to say that I’ve made my final judgement on Whatwave[7]. I just may not be in the best mood to enjoy their sound, right now. Also, please keep in mind that I’ve only listened to the album about ten times and with each new listen I pick up on a new lyric, like the great opening line to “World Gone Global”, “Laying down by the river watching you die”. Hopefully, I can look forward to exploring more of the Dead Trees’ catalog as they strive to explore new musical frontiers.
Final Score: .70 Animals
[1] “Binging” if you’re a fucking psychopath.
[2] Just like my flaws :,-(
[3] Due to his divorce settlement, Paul McCartney now plays a heavily modified prosthetic leg courtesy of Heather Mills.
[4] Not necessarily a bad thing.
[5] By the way... sorry, ladies.
[6] “Older”, “Punch For Punch”, and “Comfortable Kids”, respectively.
[7] And certainly not the Dead Trees.
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