Album Review: Take One Car - It's Going To Be A Nice Day

Album Rating: A-

Take One Car writes music that embodies power, to say it in simple terms. They're a pretty simple band from upstate New York, just four guys making music, but what they accomplish in this respect is so much more than music. The new release is a great blend of alternative, indie rock, post-hardcore, and a nice dash of post-rock, balancing some heavy guitar riffing with a good portion of mysterious ambiance, and profoundly metaphorical lyrics reverberate throughout. It's Going To Be A Nice Day is broad enough to cover genre stereotypes and appeal to many, but their sound is ultimately a concentrated, perfected blend of aural pleasure that stimulates the senses and sets emotions reeling.

There's something about the tracks that embody more power that have a certain ring to them, like "I Know Why You Went Into The Woods". Tyler Irish's voice has a special ring to it, like a Beastie Boys shout chorus, but with a lot more melody and feeling behind it, and he has a particular way of slurring each and every word together shakily, but also speaks articulately enough for the listener to understand the lyrics, at least in the gaps where it isn't lost in a wave of beautiful distortion. The intro to the song is a heavy work to die for, and it only gets better further in. The song builds up behind Irish's shouting vocals, and the melodic outro could not have been better written, ringing with sharp angst, torrid anger, and a blackened confusion as the song ends in a static, empty feedback.

Then there are songs like "Sometimes The Best Way To Die...". Perhaps it might be more calm, but it's absolute sin to decide for even a moment that this song doesn't have the same level of heart or vehemence as "I Know Why". The intro has an echoing acoustic guitar, laying down some chords, with an organ in the background, and Irish's vocals send through a reverb on steroids, to the point where his voice along sounds like a million different whispers, each trying to reach out to the listener, in a failing attempt to connect, but crashes in the wave of sound panned out by the added bassline and drums. However, three minutes in, the distortion turns on, and the peaceful repose is lost in a storm of remorse and grief, Irish screaming out and trying to keep in contact with the listener, but this song, too, ends eerily in feedback, this time a few separate tones, leaning from the right to left speaker continually, like an empty seesaw on a playground, before fading into the coupled song, "Is The Best Way To Die".

This album brought forth a lot of internal emotion for me, and the way the instrumentation hits the listener is complete perfection. The guitar tones are ever changing, and the reverb is sometimes there, and sometimes missing, but wherever it's used is meaningful and powerful, and this is very true for a lot of different aspects of the music. Take One Car wants to express a specific emotion with their music, and they express it through many different little aspects that, as a whole, come together in a marvelous wonder. Like I said before, I think It's Going To Be A Nice Day is going to appeal to a great many people, and has a lot of similarities to bands like O'Brother, Moving Mountains, Zucchini Drive, and Beware of Safety. The way that Take One Car expresses themselves on this album is admirable and beautiful, and it's impressive for an album in general, doubly so that these guys were able to release two great albums in a row.

Keep an eye out for Take One Car tour dates, too! They've had recent news releases on their site that they're doing at least an album release show (which is today, the 24th), and they should release a few different show dates soon. To keep further updated on news, you can find their site here.

You can listen to the album for free and purchase it for download on their Bandcamp.
You can also stream an alternate version of "Brim" right here on MuzikDizcovery

01) It's Going To Be A Nice Day
02) Dear Ronnie
03) I Know Why You Went Into The Woods
04) Brim
05) Patriarchs
06) The Oceansong
07) Yet Another Voyage (Adrift)
08) In The Company Of Wolves
09) So Much In Return
10) Virtue
11) Sometimes The Best Way To Die...
12) Is The Best Way To Die