Vinyl Puppet: In Reason

In Reason

In Reason is an alternative pop-rock band whose members are an eclectic mixture of American, Hungarian and Scotsmen. They have recently formed in 2008 but are already haunting local venues like Whistle Binkies, the Ark and Bannermans. They’ve had a promising beginning so far, but how long will it last? Alexis Malloy – vocal and rhythm guitar; Denes Poszmik – bass guitar and backing vocals; Craig Reid – lead guitar; Peter Branney – drums.

Pass you by

The song begins with some mundane chords and rhythm on guitar, the like of which is by no means going to hook you. Then the vocals join, and suddenly it starts to make more sense, the strength and quality of her voice is unquestionable. The closer you listen, however, the more obvious it becomes that there is a serious weakness in the lyrics – cliché and bland are some of the words that could be used to describe them…and many more would spring to mind as I listened to the tracks. The guitar solo is reasonable and there is some nice use of dual harmonics to bring the song back into the chorus. The chorus, well, I’m not sure I would have realized there was a chorus if there hadn’t been a bridge on guitar and it hadn’t been repeated so much. Not that great of an opening act, but what was to follow?

Nothing to lose

How many times can I say that the lyrics are cliché before it becomes redundant? The lyrics in this song irritated me enormously, and so as not to have to say it again, they didn’t get much better in the next couple songs. There is a decent part in the middle of the song where the instruments all work quite nicely together, but then it seems to fall back into the same dull rhythm. About 2:30 into the song there are some great vocals, showing a lot of potential. There is an unnecessary cymbal finish that for some reason just doesn’t quite work.

You don’t love me

They bring the song in well with some interesting atmospheric effects, but then the rhythm that seems to have become their trademark comes in with the vocals and detracts from what had been going for them. The melodies, which were never exactly ensnaring to begin with are all starting to sound alike. There is some nice drum-work about 1:30 and later some interesting moments from the guitar, but they could really do with changing the balance of the volumes so that any genius coming through from the instruments can actually be heard. You shouldn’t need to listen hard to hear it.

Headspace

The final song has achieved a better blend between the instruments but the rhythm really could still do with work. There is some more play with dynamics that helps, and this may be what’s been missing from some of the other songs. But I really wanted to hear them take the dynamics up a level to create more variety in mood and pace, and that goes for their music in general. It would also be great to hear the vocals being used in different ways, and to bring the power that’s behind them to the forefront more often.

Verdict

It seems as if this band haven’t quite managed to get a balance yet. At the moment it often appears as if the vocals are carrying the burden of recompensing for the weaker areas of their sound. As often happens with bands when first forming, they are returning time and time again to their comfort zone. This also showed through in their live youtube performances which showed little movement or variation – it could have been a photograph. If this band is going to have much of a future, they need to bring something more interesting and exciting to the table, or suffer the label of elevator/background music. You never know though, they could be famous: one day you might just hear them on Vodafone customer services helpline while you’re on hold.

Links - In Reason MySpace

Reviewed by Chantal Reilly

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