Labels: Tiny Engines
Review by: Andy Malcolm
I think I burned out on Look Mexico a bit. I listened to their album a metric ton over the summer, to the point where their stuff comes up on my MP3 player now that I skip it sometimes. Which is a bit of a shame, as their LP is rather good, and definitely in my top 10 for the year. This seven gives them two new songs, and it’s nice to hear something fresh from the band. “You’re Not Afraid of the Dark, Are You?” is a song of two styles. One bit of it is oh so very much like poppy Jimmy Eat World stuff. The vocals are right in the Adkins ball park at several points on this song. Plus it’s a bit overblown and pompous with strings and stuff. These are not necessarily bad things. The song has some really nice waltzy guitar moments that indie emo bands have totally ignored in favour of being fiddly, plus it has some not too intrusive fiddly bits too. It’s good. I like this song, I think it might catch people into the band by surprise. It feels like it should be 10 minutes long. I like that.
The two b-side efforts seem a little indistinct though. “I’m Not Guilty, But I’m Used to It” gets bogged down in vaguely jazzy rhyhtms, and stumbles. A bit too noodlesome, especially after the immediate impact of the previous song. “Don’t You Dare” is almost instantly forgettable, if it wasn’t for the first twenty seconds where it sounds like it will be great. Yet once the intro is finished, it quickly disappears into “generic Look Mexico style song that wasn’t good enough to go an LP” though, sadly.
Worth it for the a-side at least, I look forward to hearing the next LP by these fellows.