Among those bands we love or deeply hate, we all have some we think of as… OK. Those bands we can’t really say something coherent about besides that magic word. You’ve heard them once, might remember how they sound (though most of the times, you don’t). Occasionally, there will be those OK bands you kinda enjoy but most of the times, these bands aren’t able to convince you to listen to their music more than once. Then again, if one of their songs comes on the radio or is played in a club, it won’t bother you.
Matt Pond PA, sadly, were one of those bands. Their latest release, Auri Sacri Fames, was deeply forgettable thought not bad musically. Too lo-fi, you said and left it in some dark corner of your hard disk. The Dark Leaves, their new album, however (hence the were) is a nod better. Starting, while unremarkably entitled for the intro of the album, is a fun folk song, slightly bubbly but still showing a bit of despair. And then the songs flows nicely into one another, all of them leaving the impression of a mixture of Arcade Fire and Bright Eyes.
This time, the trouble with Matt Pond PA’s work is that it all sounds the same. No longer deeply unremarkable, the album stops representing an object of interest for the listener after song… four, Remains. So while they might make you tap your foot, hum along or get a mild obsession for a random song off The Dark Leaves (I do strongly recommend The Dark Leaves Theme, a dreamy and bluesy piece), Matt Pond PA fail to bring a solid work to the table. Sadly, if I might say, because they do have a lot of potential.
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