Fjord Rowboat – Saved The Compliments For Morning
So it’s been about a month since I last submitted a review. I’ve been out of the country. Ego subdued, I’m sure none of you noticed but that’s okay I still love you. Amidst the hardcore DDR arcades, Lineage II internet cafes and strawberry flavoured KicKer bars, Seoul is a city I could really settle down in. Unfortunately no matter what city I’m in, I’m always extremely secular about my music. While I was there not once did I lend an ear to Rain or BoA (for example). Instead, I did the exact opposite. I backslid on old favourites that got lost in the coverflow of my near full capacious 160 GB ipod classic. The same ipod classic that customs wanted to confiscate because they believed it contained pirated music (they were wrong).
Fjord Rowboat’s ‘Save The Compliments For Morning’ got an unusually high amount of playtime while I was there. No rhyme or reason why really. But the 2007 shoegazer debut from the Torontonian quintet was a strong and audibly pleasing release for my ears. The reverb laced guitars expectedly echoed over ridges of massive drums and bass. Vocals provided by Craig Gloster seemed to float above the chorus.
The band takes a conventional, approachable perspective to the album. This is by no means progressive or ‘nu-gaze’ but it still contains the droning distorted riffs that are characterized by new wave shoegazing. Songs follow a structured peak and valley setup layered together by vocals and melody. It’s simplistic yet auspicious. The stand out track is by far ‘Simply Stood’. It’s the antithesis of the above and is a good representation of the overall material. The only obvious flaw with this album is the mixing. Songs like ‘Can’t See the Sun’ and ‘Taking the Pass’ sound as if melody and vocals were competing with each other. It can be corrected with an equalizer but out of the box any ear can pick it up if the person listens, that is of course if they pay attention to the music playing and not lost in it while gazing at their shoes.
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