Posted on 09/04/2008
Birdmonster’s sound on From the Mountain to the Sea is wide open and expansive. It’s no surprise many of the songs were written in a desert cabin. You can picture stark quiet with nothing but the band’s tender melodies decorating an isolated, natural landscape. Translate that to audio and the beauty is a double-edged sword. At times on the band’s sophomore effort, such quiet is a strength allowing you to hone in on Peter Arcuni’s vulnerable vocals and crisp writing. Other times, it feels too bland, with not enough fire in the music or in the singing to jump out from the hypnotic stillness.

The acoustic guitar accompanying many of the lofty lyrics on From the Mountain to the Sea is too muted for the sweeping sentiment on much of the album. Emotionally and lyrically you hear the songs build, but they never quite deliver the punch you anticipate. The album opener, “My Love For You,” feels huge in scope, but the plaintive journey falls short of truly igniting to its full potential. A similar, but more fast-paced exercise comes on “Born to Be Your Man,” which provides a burst of countrified energy. “New Country” has a nonstop toe-tapping quality to it, but is an unwanted reminder of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark.” It’s still a great song if you can get past that image of Adam Sandler mumbling the lyrics in your head, but the much-needed urgency comes at just the right time.

At times when Birdmonster seems less conflicted about which road to take, muscular pop-rock or slower folk-pop, the result is a full-blooded, moving effort like “Our Ashes.” “Concrete Lights” adds a different, more somber flavor to the album, almost a Lou Reed vibe to the otherwise predictable alternative rock flourishes on the rest of the record. The band goes up-tempo with wild, clashing drums and Arcuni finally sounding like he’s enjoying himself without losing any of the lyrical precision on “Heart of the Dead.” “Residue” begins like many of the band’s simple, sad songs, but turns to a more yearning, earnest appeal. This is one of the album’s best, where the melancholy is balanced with an energy that doesn’t make the song so easily fade from memory.

Throughout, Birdmonster is unrelenting in the sincerity of the emotion they convey from song to song. They don’t always reach out and grab you, some are downright wimpy, but the album is tight and pleasing, even when it’s not exciting.

- Candace L.