Search - Division Day :: Beartrap Island

All over the place

John L Murphy | Los Angeles | 01/14/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Tracks remind me of the Strokes, chamber-pop meets alt-country, standard indie-rock these days-- yearning vocals, layered instruments, slow to steady pacing-- and most of all Grandaddy. Perhaps they share with that last band a Central California ambiance, and an love of reflective, if rather stylized (if not so ironic or self-conscious) past pop-rock. Certainly less psychedelic than fellow Santa Cruzians Comets on Fire; maybe closer to that band's Aaron Chesny in his Six Organs of Admittance solo work?



I'm not sure if the band named itself after another recent alt-rock standard, Elliot Smith; that track was one of his best. However, Division Day's less captivated than Smith by the Beatlesque aura. They are also not as quirky as Jason Lytle was in singing, and the playing's less twee. Also, Division Day devotes attention to a sound that emphasizes direction rather than posing.



Still, for these strengths, the band needs time to formulate a more distinctive sound. My wife thought they sounded at their best rather like Yo La Tengo. Division Day does, like YLT, know its rock history. And, like YLT, with time they may mature into a band that incorporates their influences into a more dramatic sound that plays to each member's talent.



The tone here remains too derivative at times. The songs jump from style to style-- the reggaeish track at the center slows the momentum down considerably. Admittedly, this is their first full-length, and perhaps tellingly much time passed between this and their e.p. "The Mean Way In" (the band does title their releases well). This album itself is an expanded version of an earlier release.



I will keep an ear out for the band, and I wish them well as they continue with their evolution."

Solid Debut

Sao Paulo | 11/21/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Production is this album's only flaw. This would have been a stellar debut in the vein of the stylistically similar Silversun Pickups' "Carnavas" had they pared it down. As the review suggests, the album is somewhat experimental, but those tracks are completely useless.



The band meanders through eight tracks, with the exception of track 5, "Light Out", until the album really gets focused with track 9, the haunting "Dayenu". "Colorguard" is the standout track on the album, but keeping with the inexplicable production choices it is about a minute too long, so you will never hear it on the radio.



This is a very talented band who like many others have released an unfocused, experimental debut full length. However, unlike under-the-radar bands like Frank Jordan, Hockey Night, and Lake Trout, this album produces some excellent tracks and is not all about potential. Less could have made it so much more."