Album Review: We Cut Corners – Think Nothing
2 min read
Dublin duo and ex primary school teachers We Cut Corners are set to release album number two, Think Nothing. Their debut album Today I Realised I Could Walk Home Backwards was a nominee for Irish Album of the Year for the Choice Music Prize, a great honour that would help set the ball rolling and raise the bar. The guys took a different approach when putting together Think Nothing, on mixing duties they sought out Ben Hillier who is responsible for mixing the likes of Blur and Depeche Mode, they also wanted to add more diversity to the overall sound of the album by increasing the amount of instruments featured. Sounds like a worthwhile project!
Opening track Wallflowers started a little shaky; it is introduced by an acapella that was a tad unsure of itself, there was a beautiful quality to it nonetheless, but the song escalates into layers upon layers of strings and ends a little too abruptly for its style. Blue is punchy from the get go, there is no doubt that the duo have the energy to deliver. Best Friend is a short but sweet rock ‘n’ roll number that is easy going, but the joined vocal forces in Mammal were at times out of sync with each other which proved distracting; the song is catchy though, so not all the best aspects of the song can go unnoticed.
The album’s second ballad Maybe In The Future again was vocally awkward, it was as if it was recorded by a highly acclaimed actor being cast in a musical; it just lacked a little substance and also ended abruptly. It’s back to the upbeat rock with This Is Then, tracks such as this is more suited to the duo, Overtures isn’t too bad but comes across as a tad tiring unfortunately and Every Thief is the ballad the guys pulled off; the song starts off as a nice relaxed tune and explodes towards the end. YKK is another fun and head bopping alternative rock number, and finally the album closes on another downbeat track, Hunger.
Think Nothing wasn’t a bad album, yet it could have been better. We Cut Corners are known for writing short songs, many of the new songs featured on the album are shorter than the typical 3-4 minute tracks on your average LP, yet it feels as if some could have warranted longer playing time; especially when tracks such as Wallflowers and Maybe In The Future ended suddenly and as if without warning. Lyrically the album is with it, there was definitely some thought into those words and how they flowed, and the upbeat alternative rock songs were the best to listen to. Not a bad effort at all, but not all the songs won the race as keepers unfortunately.
