Bound Stems - The Family Afloat

By: Charbarred | in: Music |

Bound Stems

No matter what you do in life, the most important thing is how rich you are.
Of course I’m not talking about money. Depth, emotion, means of expression, complexity, simplicity and pretty much anything you actually invest in determine your wealth. Case in point, Bound Stems.

Bound Stems - Happens To Us All Otherwise

Their sophomore album “The Family Afloat” delivers pretty much everything you could ask for in a rock album. OK, so there’s no finger-tapping, but it’s quite ample. Odd time signatures, thoughtful arrangements and even a really good ballad all come together to make one of my favorite albums of the year so far.

Bound Stems - Winston

The Chicago quintet seems to effortlessly fuse slacker mentality with math rock. The vocals sound like a cross between Modest Mouse and Connor Oberst (before he stopped trying and settled for same-ish Americana). The band just knows how to surprise you in every turn, while the melodies make this one of those rare albums where you can’t find a bum song.

Bottom Line: Impressive, very impressive, but remember, there’s no finger-tapping.

[Bound Stems - Official Site]
[Bound Stems on MySpace]

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Posted on September 20, 2008

Comments

4 Responses to “Bound Stems - The Family Afloat”

DThompson on September 23rd, 2008 9:49 pm

First song, okay. Second song, not so terribly okay.

musique concrete on October 27th, 2008 3:55 pm

Your mention of odd time signatures is what caught my interest and made me listen. pretty good stuff.

DThompson on October 27th, 2008 7:59 pm

For crying out loud charbarred! Just because I didn’t like the second song doesn’t mean you need to shut the bloody site down!
Okay, okay! I like the second song!