Discovery - LP
The commuters among us, by the time we're finished with them, if we're ever finished with them, will forever have a place in our hearts for tube journeys. This less than enjoyable part of our daily routine can be full of surprises, detours and challenges. From the desire to drift off to the familiar summer-inspired sense of sticky sweat patches emerging due to congestion, they're a dissatisfying segment of our lives. The back cover of Discovery's 'LP' addresses this. The tracklist starts with 'Osaka Loop Line' and the whole list of songs is mapped out like the London Underground, with each song representing a different line, a different route. Funnily enough this is nothing like the album itself, sitting with its feet up on the underground train on the electro route, via the R&B line and down into Pop Central.
You cannot forget the intense awkwardness of tube journeys. From glances you should resist towards an attractive member of the opposite / same sex to the desire to jump out of the closed-up windows when a drunken football fan comes on board, you never quite feel completely at ease. But this journey is smooth and snug, the paradise of train journeys. And that's all well and good, except sometimes you need a distraction; an interesting diversion from a simplistic route and unfortunately 'LP' has very few standout moments, only the one course.
The course taken is one perhaps not anticipated. The background to Discovery has only two notable features: 1) side project of Vampire Weekend and 2) side project of Ra Ra Riot. That information has no doubt been thrust forward into your ears, eyes, everywhere. It's the selling point of Discovery. Without the necessary fame and success, their interesting exploration into unfamiliar pop territory wouldn't have been given much notice. The individual traits of the respective bands make occasionally significant impact on the record itself, but much of 'LP' leaves Rostam Batmanglij and Wes Miles unrecognisable. That's actually quite good because it gives you the chance to verdict Discovery on basis of the sound, not the associations within. Two standout moments in succession allow 'LP' to excel in its desire to pay homage to early 21st century R&B, but both those tracks, 'So Insane' and 'Swing Tree', are the least pretentiously pop songs out of all of them. 'So Insane' prides itself on unforeseen turns of pace, and 'Swing Tree' boasts the most enjoyable vocal take of them all, out-doing Vampire Weekend's very own Ezra Koenig and Dirty Projectors' Angel Dreadoorian's respective appearances on 'Carby' and 'I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend', the former in particular coming off as turgid and uninspired, with auto-tune spoiling a perfectly unique voice.
Much of 'LP' can go down as a waste of space. Even the tribute to now former pop legend Michael Jackson in 'I Want You Back (In Discovery)' appears at fault, a needless addition to the record. And that track in itself summaries the apparent lack of ideas in what is essentially a side-project and nothing more. The vast majority of this record feels like lost baggage, scrunched up notes picked up again and ironed out. Like every tube journey, you get the occasional respite, glimmer of peace and satisfaction, the breeze of polluted air through the doors opening at every station... But the rest is an awkward obstruction to what could have easily been something rather special. The idea is all well and good, if a little try-hard - the delivery less so.
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