Review Summary: "The less you say, the less that you get wrong."
The first song being the highlight of an album has always irritated me. Why bother listening to the rest of a record when it only goes downhill from the very beginning? The latest from Wild Nothing doesn’t suffer from this exact problem, but does in the sense that it is rather top heavy quality wise. In terms of the album’s background,
Life of Pause is meant to live in a world of its own. The room on the album’s cover was specially created to embody the spirit of how it sounds and what it means. The musical result of this newfound inspiration begs the question of why more attention wasn’t paid to the actual music, instead of the music’s living room. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with
Life of Pause, it ultimately doesn’t experiment or aspire enough to fully work the way it yearns to.
The looping marimba melodies of opener “Reichpop” and increased use of synths already signifies a major change for Wild Nothing. Band leader Jack Tatum is clearly seeking to reinvent himself with
Life of Pause, channeling the likes of Tame Impala and even
Remain in Light-era Talking Heads at times. Overall there’s not much to be found of the impressive musical statement he’s going for, featuring some enjoyable dream pop numbers and interesting experimentations, but also an overabundance of retro musical ideas from various eras.
Life of Pause starts out strong enough, but loses its effect fast.
To those who love the dreamy guitar lines and airy synths of Wild Nothing, well, there’s good and bad news. Prancing keyboard melodies are frequently heard, but the absence of memorable lead guitars is especially disappointing. If anything though, the real clincher for why
Life of Pause doesn’t exude the kind of effortless brilliance heard in
Nocturne is actually how much it ends up emanating its title. “Alien” and “Whenever I” are the simplest and most aimless on here, slogging along in the expected syrupy, psychedelic backdrop (though the latter features some enjoyable saxophone playing in the bridge). Despite the monotonous elements, there are no actual bad songs on here; in fact, fans of Wild Nothing will find this to be at least suitable background music while writing essays for philosophy classes or filling out their Starbucks job application.
Thankfully, there are a few great tracks to be found among the unvarying dream pop atmospheres. “Japanese Alice” is a true gem, being the most energetic and optimistic the band has ever sounded. “To Know You” channels the likes of The Cure and early U2 in true nostalgic fashion for one of the album highlights. The other clones of 90s alternative and shoegaze should take note, that song is how you resurrect that desired sound. A few evocative reminders of classic bands are in the minority though, with too much repetition of a sound that has been done to death instead. Wild Nothing’s latest is dishearteningly stuck in a limbo between recycling the psychedelic shoegaze of the 1990’s with the sanguine keyboard licks of the 80’s.
Life of Pause does indeed live up to its name, and will hopefully be seen as a simple transition to a brilliant album that Jack Tatum is so intent on convincing listeners he has in him to create.
