Released
1997
Label
Dedicated Records
Reviewed by
Rafael Romero
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CRANES DISCOGRAPHY
Cranes Discography
Complete
Cranes Discography
Last Edit/Update
01 April, 1998
Cranes
Population Four
Track Listing
1. Tangled Up
2. Fourteen
3. Breeze
4. Can't Get Free
5. Stalk
6. Sweet Unknown
7. Angel Bell
8. On Top of the World
9. Brazil
10. Let Go
11. To Be
In
the same style as their previous recordings
acoustic-distorted guitars, this one doesn’t have the
same effect as the other CDs. P4 is pretty plain, just as
plain as Forever, but again, there’s a huge gap between
those two. Plainness in Forever meaning beautiful,
clean, straightforward-yet-mysterious sounds. Plainness
in P4 meaning "you know what?, I’m really not in the
mood for writing complicated songs, so let’s just take it
easy on this one, ok?"
This time the music leans more
towards commercial alternative (some of the songs make me think of groups like Veruca Salt
- ouch! it hurts even saying it). Is this band trying to go mainstream, then?
Mmmhhh... I shouldn’t think so. Not after listening to masterpiece works
such as La Tragédie d´Oreste et Électre. What’s happening then?
Well, pretty much what happens with most bands: They’re mutating.
Mutation is a long, painful process. I see P4 much as a transition album.
Transition albums are usually not well
received. It’s much like the artist going introspective,
trying to find its own self; caring little about the world
outside (not that this is bad, it’s necessary).
But hey! Not everything’s bad
about this CD. It has some brilliant moments. The ever-present, bird
call-sounding, guitar "scratch" on "Angel Bell" is one of
those moments. It takes the song beyond its plainness
(darn! that word again). Good drum lines in that song too,
just as in "Top of the World"; wildly switching from a
quick beat with a 4/4 cymbal to a slow beat with a 16/4
hi hat. "Brazil" is quite spicy. Makes me feel like shaking my ass a bit.
Anyway,
I´ll be here, sitting all day, eating fat-free
ice-cream, waiting for the next Cranes release and
looking forward to some surprises -- hopefully good ones.
