Review: Fairweather - Lusitania

artist: fairweather album: lusitania label: equal vision records released: by: eduardo moutinho Fairweather is one of those mellow type emo bands with some occasional “rockin’” type moments, ala Armor for Sleep. Considering they’re on Equal Vision Records, this makes a lot of sense. Their latest release, Lusitania, is a feel-good listen that has its memorable moments. Honestly, the easiest way for me to describe Fairweather would be as a much mellower and less erratic Thursday. At least this is the impression I get from the band after listening to Lusitania; It’s all the emo without the core. That’s not necessarily bad, and in many cases, Fairweather likes to exhibit some fast-paced moments with high energy riffs. Yet, if you’re looking for something to get your heart pumping, this isn’t it. This is comfortable rock that you can play in the background while driving to some place with a friend. The songs on Lusitania are airy and light for the most part. The music never gets heavy; the guitars, vocals, and drums are smooth and blend well together. There are a lot of “twangy” riffs in the songs, as seen in tracks such as “Letter of Intent” which are quite memorable. The guitars themselves contribute the most to the easy-to-listen nature of the rock. And the drums are mastered in a way to sound really crisp and trebly. The vocalist has a voice that emphasizes on the higher end which rounds out the music nicely. Honestly, this band can also be compared to Coheed and Cambria, in terms of the pure rock nature of the music. But in the end, Fairweather finds its own little niche, with its aforementioned feel-good emo rock. These guys are on the perfect label, as they fit in perfectly with the artist roster on Equal Vision. In the end, I enjoyed this album, but I found it to be lacking in a few areas. Armor for Sleep managed to grab me for long periods of time with their album, while playing the same kind of emo. I didn’t get bored with that album. I got bored with Lusitania after the first few tracks. There are some faster-paced songs, but none of them really got to me. The intro track, “Derivative Opener” was just that, a derivative opener. It took forever to begin, and started the album off with a thump rather than a bang. The title track, “Lusitania” is wonderful, and really raised my hopes for the rest of the album. Yet, in the end, I was left yearning for more. Tracks like “Alaska” temporarily took me out of my drowsy stupor for a few minutes though. But don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy this album. I just wish it had a little more of that stuff that makes an album unique and attention grabbing. favorite song: “lusitania" rating: 81%/100% listen to fairweather