EndAnd – The Adventures Of Fi In Space

When releasing a concept album, bands should recognize that they are walking a fine line.  On one hand, they have the capability of creating something larger than themselves.  If done right, a concept album can bring listeners on an audible journey through a new world that’s been created with unique ideas and a cohesive track listing.  On the other hand, they can restrict a band to play only between the boundaries of a certain idea without expanding into their full potential.  Adventures Of Fi In Space, a two-part concept album released by Brooklyn’s EndAnd, teeters dangerously on this line.

Adventures Of Fi plays with the concept of pitting high fidelity and low fidelity recordings against each other.  The “hi-fi” side of the release plays off as a more grown-up version of power pop featuring classic punk chord progressions mixed with alt-rock sounding vocals and heavy drums.  Bringing punk sensibility to the table, EndAnd showcases tried and true power chord progressions on tracks like opener “Far in Between” and “So What Now.”  Coming in more aggressive with rockin’ guitar riffs, “Commando” sounds like it could be ripped from a classic car chase scene.  “Labor Force” is the most refreshing track on this side of the album with its indie jazz mentality and call and response vocals while “Death Songs” comes up short as a punk song without the attitude.

Moving on to the “lo-fi” concept of Adventures, EndAnd kicks off with the slow burning “Dawl.”  “Legend” starts out nice and acoustic before picking up an extraterrestrial sounding transmission.  An electro break beat pops up half way through but ends all too abruptly.  Rounding out the album is the formulaic “Sweet” and crooning sadness of “When and There.”

While EndAnd showed some bravado in attempting an elusive concept album, they leave you with a feeling that much more could have been accomplished as the production values of the “hi-fi” and “lo-fi” are all too similar on Adventures.  The trio’s risk is not in vein however as the promise of something even more brilliant seems certain.