A Satellite, Stars and an Ocean Behind You – The Submarines
Fire – The Submarines
My one line review of the new Submarines record, Love Notes/Letter Bombs: when faced with the slogan ‘change vs. more of the same’ The Submarines are clearly a ‘more of the same’ sort of band. And that’s just fine!
My slightly longer unpacking: The Submarines’ debut album was an absolute breath of fresh air: the breakup-and-get-back-together record that was both autobiographical and performative. It was one of my favorite albums of the last decade. 2008’s Honeysuckle Weeks treaded very much on the same ground. And while the air was no longer quite so fresh, the charm and melodies were very much there.
This time around, it’s become absolutely clear that they are in for the long haul. They’ve got a style and a key, and they stick to it. And you know what, in many ways, I really respect that. I think bands are far too often committed to switching things for no reason other than a desire to prove that they’ve got something deeper going on. I don’t think there’s any shame in playing to your strengths, which in this case means dealing out ten more delicious slices of indie pop.
To the extent that there are changes, they mostly involve tapping into the New New Wave movement. But really, with a few exceptions, adding some synths doesn’t change the essentially acoustic charm. Those exceptions: their introduction about 35 seconds into the absolutely captivating “A Satellite, Stars and an Ocean Behind You” announces the genuine possibility of a different path for the band to walk on future records. And, on the other side, the stilted “Where You Are” is just a dud. There’s no two ways around that one.
Other complaints? Well, it’s not that I have any problem with Blake-driven songs – she has a wonderful voice and I can see why they have increasingly highlighted it – but I do miss having John front and center a bit more. His tracks on Declare a New State felt a tad more weighty, which provided a nice counterpoint to the tendency of her songs to drift into wispy-cloud territory. That loss means things can get just a tiny bit tedious in the middle of the record. There are lots of nice songs, but apart from the very fun “Tigers” there’s not a whole lot to distinguish things. The only real burners are at the very beginning or end.
Still, those good tracks more than make up for a slightly tepid middle. The previously mentioned “A Satellite, Stars and an Ocean Behind You” is right up there with their best tracks, as pretty as anything they’ve done, and with the same sort of energy that made “You, Me, and the Bourgeoisie” such a blast. The final track “Anymore” takes some time to find its feet, but about a minute and a half in it all starts to click. Then, when they reprise the tone of the opening minute it all makes so much more sense – like a magic eye clicking into place. And “Fire” is probably the most straightforward pop they’ve produced so far, but with the delicate touch you’d expect from them.
It’s quite possible that these two will never produce an album to match Declare a New State, but if they can churn out a fun record like this every couple years I won’t be doing any lamenting.