Braids are a Progressive Dream Pop outfit from Canada that rely on loops and ambient like drones to keep them afloat. They do this well, the previous EP wasn't released to much acclaim, but was liked by early and new fans of Braids for it's long compositions. Some can call Braids Dream Pop, others tend to sway towards Art Rock, but in this case, they will just be Braids.
The album is filled with delicate guitar loops which all have the same style of direction. 'Lemonade' being one of my favorite tracks of the year ends really well with the repeated phrase of 'all we really wanna do is love'.
I guess you could name a few improvements within the style of music, but for a debut album this is very professional and straight up good. I like the majority of tracks both musically and lyrically, the vocals are calming to hear.
'Plath Heart' is steady, but keeps within the same looped motion and direction as Lemonade, the drumming is consistent and is placed within the background. It's a decent song with some nice hooks and vocal melody, but even at 4 minutes it is slightly repetitive.
'Glass Deers' has been a song that i have been listening to a lot lately. It has this certain feeling which it gives off, the simplistic Dream Pop ambiance that is portrayed really does work, it;s simple yet iconic, which is hard to say for an album released in 2011.
'Same Mum', has really grown on me. It starts with the bass drum beat and some Math Rock like guitar playing before the drones and vocal kicks in. The song is steady but eventually it starts making sense, with everything coming together in one big wall of sound. The album ender, 'Little Hand', is again much alike most Math Rock compositions. it's a very nice track and a lovely way to end the album.
Overall i think this is a solid album with some very good tracks and some slightly average but still likable tracks, out of the seven tracks, none of them are disappointing or skip worthy. I can see Braids only becoming bigger and better with time, a very good debut effort by the Canadians.
~Eddie
8.5
