Tamaryn returns with the eagerly awaited sequel to 2010’s “The Waves”.
This was the hardest review to date for me. Normally, I can find something I like about the album. Maybe I’m getting old, but I find “shoegaze” is as boring as shit. I started writing this as I listened, with the hopes that some positive review would emerge. I wanted to like this album. I really did. It sounded so promising: Narco-folk dream pop. What’s not to like? I couldn’t even fathom what that might sound like.
Here’s the problem. The songs are multilayered, yet virtually indistinguishable from one another. They’re good; don’t get me wrong. I just found it tiresome to hear the same thing over and over for 40 minutes. It’s like trying to catch a fish with fettuccine alfredo: the ingredients are all there, but you’re missing a hook. The closest we get to something that doesn’t stretch time itself is “The Garden”, the 6th of 9 tracks, which boasts a nice and fuzzy guitar opener, the song containing a little more meat to it than the rest of the album.
I don’t usually endorse this, but the best way to listen to Tender New Signs might have to be while enjoying BC’s Finest. Light up and wind down.
