Genius: Beaches…sand seeped into the sun-soaked, bologna and mustard sandwich…
Genius is a band from South Korea but going for an American sound heard many, many times before, yet not easily definable. If pressed for comparisons with Western counterparts, I would say somewhere between the Night Marchers(San Diego), maybe even Spoon-like (Austin), even coming off vaguely Violent Femmish (Milwaukee) at times.
Overall Beaches, their 3rd full length album, is not bad but doesn’t stick either. While some songs like “Simple and Normal”, “Catch A Job” or Thanksgiving” catch your attention, interest quickly wanes like a roller-coaster reaching the crest before the inevitable plunge to quickly finding something else to listen to. After a couple of struggled listens, I can’t tell if Genius’ tedious, lackadaisical approach is deliberate and they are just too cool for school for everyone (especially themselves), or just plain lazy.
RIYL: Teengenerate, Nine Pound Hammer, Empty Records
Related:
Spoon- Don’t Make Me a Target
Violent Femmes – Promise
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