Revolver

Music for a While (Astralwerks)

By Beth Harrington
Published: September 5th, 2010 | 7:00am

The first two tracks on Music for a While, the latest release from French trio Revolver, encapsulate the dual moods of the album. With its somber, lilting opening chords, “Birds in Dm” serves as a haunting, almost brutal introduction to an album that is by turns morose and quirky. The folksy guitar melody and harmonica in “Leave Me Alone” belie the resentment of the refrain, “Leave me alone / I don’t believe in / Friends that don’t show / Secret feelings.” The rest of the twelve tracks—including two untitled ones—follow this pattern of sparse instrumental arrangements enhanced by the lead singer’s melancholic, accented vocals for a result that’s alternately mellow and sorrowful, sometimes at the same time.

Music for a While shows potential, but isn’t an entirely successful effort on its own. The songs are brief, generally ranging from two to three-and-a-half minutes, and Revolver doesn’t quite fully take advantage of this brevity. Guitar riffs that channel the likes of everyone from the Beatles to Eric Clapton are intriguing and experimental in their own right, yet seem misplaced in songs characterized by such simplicity. Standout tracks later in the album include the eerie “Do You Have a Gun?” and the off-beat “Get Around Town,” but Revolver must chart a clearer destiny for itself in between the muddy waters of folk and rock in order to create a more solid album.

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Astralwerks Records