Abbott Hayes - Giving Myself Away
Record Label: Unsigned
Release Date: Fall 2008
Who?
Abbott Hayes is a puppy dog grown old. And I know, old is totally out right now, but humor me for a second. Picture the naïve playfulness of a puppy, except it comes with the maturity and no-pooping-inside qualities of a much older dog. The dusty - in an alt-country sense - pop-rock and pitch perfect vocals marry together here into a nice little bit of head bobbing. Excitement and newness are both lacking, sure, but in these troubled times having something reliable around is exponentially better.
How Is It?
Maybe that paragraph reeks a little too much of backhanded insults, but oh well. I’ll tell you right now Giving Myself Away isn’t going to knock your socks off. However, piano-accompanied melodies (“Mountains”), lovelorn acoustic numbers (“How It Got Started”) and coffee shop-tempo rock (“Just As Well”) all make appearances, which makes the album more diverse than you’re probably expecting. Abbott Hayes do an admirable job keeping the listener interested by switching styles within the greater pop-rock umbrella. Any style you happen to love from the genre is probably on here, so don’t be surprised if someone you wouldn't expect loves this record. “Year After Year” does off-the-cuff Midwest college rock about as good as it can be done. Slight guitar twangs, rustic synths and happy-go-lucky lyrics are perfect for one of those spontaneous singalong moments with the dudes. This is conversational music that can unite all types, and it’s nice to hear some thoughtfully created pop-music that isn’t content attracting the same ol’ fans. I reckon Abbott Hayes will find the incremental new business they're after.
Recommended If You Like: Alaska & Me, Jack's Mannequin, integration, One Small Step for Landmines, campaignable, other buzzwords I can't remember (what are you favorites??)
If I'm remembering correctly, these guys had a song on the Drive-Thru/Purevolume compilation that I kind of liked. I'm not really feeling any of what I'm hearing now. Good review, fellow Missourian.
wow! what a spot on review, want to know how i can tell you wrote the name of the cd wrong, it's giving myself away. and just to let everyone know, from someone who actually listened to the cd, it's a great cd
If I'm remembering correctly, these guys had a song on the Drive-Thru/Purevolume compilation that I kind of liked. I'm not really feeling any of what I'm hearing now. Good review, fellow Missourian.
Yeah, they had that 'Can you imagine me bound and gagged and barely breathing' song! I remember that, not bad.
seriously...SUCH a good album. Especially after three or four spins. Couldn't disagree with Blake more on this one. To each their own though. Very very good record.
I agree with Monday Mourning, its a disc that is totally different from what most people are listening to, its one of those masterpieces you cant fully appreciate the first or second listen. Overall its a masterpiece which deserved a much better review but then again these reviews are very biased, considering most of the reviewers give good reviews to pieces of crap albums that are very generic and "in" for the moment. This is an album that will still be just as good in 10 years as it is now. As for the artists it is compared to, I would say its for fans of The Format, Death Cab For Cutie, etc.
this album rules, i grew up listening to these dudes and the music direction is a bit different than what they had previously put out. However, when they put this out, i was blown away and there live performance is flawless. good band
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