Here it is: the final Split Record Review of the fall semester! To change things up, Henry and James are reviewing each other’s albums of the year to keep the glazing to a minimum. “Harm’s Way” by Ducks Ltd. was chosen as Henry’s favorite album of 2024. For James, despite contenders including Knocked Loose’s “You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To” and JPEGMafia’s record — which was covered in the first Split Record Review — he settled on Beth Gibbons’ “Lives Outgrown,” of Portishead fame. What will the writers think of these records in this “Swap Record Review” format?
Henry’s Review:
Prepare for an entire month of album roundups. It’s that time of year when everyone and their mother posts their favorite albums that dropped in 2024. I will be no exception and will constantly be parading around my favorite records for the next few weeks. This week, we’ll be doing something a bit different. I’ll be reviewing James’ favorite release of 2024, “Lives Outgrown” by Beth Gibbons.
As someone who loves Portishead, I’m more than excited to listen to this. As her debut release, this record can go anywhere, but as someone who fell in love with her voice through albums like “Dummy,” I have high expectations.
The opener, “Tell Me Who You Are Today,” is haunting. The track is intimate and muddy, and Gibbons’ vocals glide through the ominous orchestral backing with grace and reservation. The entire song drones, with occasional swells and shrinks that accentuate the angsty and depressive attitude.
“Floating On a Moment” is centered around a weary acoustic guitar riff, introducing mandolins and reverb-drenched backing vocals throughout its runtime. The song’s slow and melancholic feel is almost reminiscent of many Elephant Six bands and records from the late 1990s and early 2000s, with a healthy dose of “Pet Sounds” by The Beach Boys mixed in there.
This record is really a perfect study album. It’s slow, droning and reflects the depressing atmosphere of campus leading up to finals week. In the best way possible, it’s dull enough to throw on in the background while focusing on something else, and interesting enough to enjoy on its own. While that may sound backhanded, that’s a delicate balance that eludes most artists.
“Rewind” kicks things up a little bit and is one of the most ominous tracks off the album. It’s built around a discordant guitar lick and thunderous drums. For fans of Portishead, this song just might be your favorite, sharing the dark atmosphere that many of their albums had while being completely separated from trip-hop.
“For Sale” emphasizes Gibbons’ vocal performance, in between sly and anxious string passages and a violin solo. This track is the greatest example of the record’s chamber pop influence, taking just as much influence from Chopin as folk heroes like Nick Drake. The dense vocal harmonies are as rich as the strings, blending to create an ethereal experience that is a definite highlight of the entire album.
“Beyond the Sun” is as discordant as the album gets, introducing woodwinds into the orchestra. Saxophones blare and blast without much rhythm or intonation, adding to the visceral and unnerving atmosphere. The percussion, like the rest of the album, centers around giant thunderous rack toms and the occasional tambourine. The wild and primal drums make every song sound urgent, like a boss battle in a video game.
“Whispering Love” is the longest track on the album, at just over six minutes. Featuring a quaint and melancholic flute solo, it’s my favorite track on the record. Gibbons’ vocals are on point, contrasting the soft acoustic guitar perfectly. The first two minutes sound straight off a lost Joni Mitchell album from the early 1970s. The back half builds more of the droning that’s found elsewhere on the record. Drum rolls hiding underneath everything give the pleasant-sounding song an uneasy feel, while the soft strings and birds chirping comfort the listener. The song fades out to just acoustic guitar over nature sounds, before disappearing into the songbirds and chickens.
“Lives Outgrown” is an experience to listen to, and not all too surprising given Gibbons’ musical resume. Portishead’s debut album, “Dummy,” turned 30 this year, and this album just goes to show that in all that time, Gibbons hasn’t lost her edge with age.
Rating: 4.5/5
James’ Review:
Henry’s pick for album of the year, “Harm’s Way” by Ducks Ltd., is intriguing because of the non-descript structure on the cover and the duo’s name. My main experience with jangle pop is from the Smiths and considering Ducks Ltd. is working in the same style with half the manpower (most of the time) is immediately admirable.
Before the record ramps up, the calm “Hollowed Out” begins the record with the lines “All we ever do is need / Eat, fuck, and sleep / And then repeat forever,” which is easy to resonate with after watching Larry Clark’s “Kids” the other night. I was worried about vocalist Tom McGreevy’s deadpan vocals in the verses at first, but he locks into a strong melody in the chorus. “Cathedral City,” on the other hand, is too chorus-heavy for me to justify its three-and-a-half-minute length, though it’s an acceptable track heading into my favorite stretch of the record.
“The Main Thing” was a standout from the start with Marcus Nuccio’s fast drumming and McGreevy’s bass lines. I interpret the lyrics “Showing up and doing what I get paid for / Yeah, we’re all just playing out the string” as reflective of the sentiment that we need to keep putting in the work because life doesn’t stop for hard times, a message the student body should take going into finals week.
“Train Full of Gasoline” is another highlight for its lyrical richness and McGreevy’s confidence in the chorus. I’m a sucker for choruses with ever-changing vocal inflections as he emphasizes nearly every syllable in “A way to get yourself set.” The Southern twang on the guitars and nostalgic feel are excellent, as well. “Deleted Scenes” is nothing to write home about on its own, though the theme of the track separates the duo from the 1980s and ‘90s groups who have influenced their sound since I doubt many bands were discussing deleted scenes in their music back in the day.
“On Our Way to the Rave” somehow fits the title sonically with 30 seconds of instrumental excitement in the beginning before McGreevy presumably comments on the event they’re headed to with the phrase “lights dimmed to dull disarray.” It’s a weird thing to complain about but there’s not enough articulation in McGreevy’s voice on this one and the track is overall too dreamy for my liking. In the final seconds, he also has another vocalist, Lindsey-Paige McCloy, finish singing the song’s title over and over, except she’s too buried in the mix to really hear her singing “rave.”
Even with the roughly 20 minutes that have elapsed so far, each of the songs on “Harm’s Way” started to get too similar, and “A Girl, Running” is no exception. I don’t mind it, but the elongated “running” in the chorus gets a bit stale. The title track, however, is infectious. I vibe with McGreevy’s vocals on this one especially, and while it features the common inclusion of a song title-heavy chorus, all the elements of this track enmesh in a very fulfilling way.
“Heavy Bag” is like a song by Conor Oberst’s group Bright Eyes or one by the Mountain Goats, at least in the beginning. It’s a surprising showing at this point in the record when I thought I had them figured out, and as with Feeble Little Horse, I wish these bands would draw out their albums more like the duo does in “Heavy Bag.” They give fans just enough to chew on until the next release but it’s hard for me to treat these sub-half-hour records with the same appreciation as more substantial releases.
Nevertheless, the brevity of “Harm’s Way” is one of my favorite aspects since the jangle pop sound is easy to overdo. Sitting at a comfortable 27 minutes, records such as this prove this half-LP length can hold its own if each song offers variety. While I don’t believe every song on here was necessary, and this likely could’ve worked better as an EP, the consistency is undeniable. I hope the duo has a duck-tastic future with some more successful business ventures like this one!
Rating: 3.5/5