Bound Stems Issue #37

The Family Afloat (Flameshovel)

By Matthew Siblo
Published: September 1st, 2008 | 11:55pm

The Family Afloat is executed admirably but lacks the flair or distinction to resonate past its running time. “Happens To Us All Otherwise” provides a glimpse of the band allowing its melodic impulses to unravel. Frontman Bobby Gallivan exudes a sense of desperate bravado, singing so quickly that he barely keeps up with his own words. Set to a lively backbeat and several counter melodies, the song’s chorus provides the album with its most immediate moments.

The Family Afloat meanders through a laborious stretch of mid-tempo songs before it recaptures a sense of immediacy on closer, “Sugar City Magic.” The band’s frenetic pace is welcomed after the imposition of more than 30 minutes of lulled moderation, its conclusion of swelling guitars and pounding drums feeling cathartic.

Bound Stems’ previous releases have challenged conventional song structure mostly to its success, notably on their debut EP, The Logic Of Building the Body Plan. The Family Afloat’s varied experimentation feels unsteady against its newfound melodic strengths, resulting in a compromise that leaves its mid-section awash in songs that sound virtually identical. It’s possible Bound Stems are reticent to indulge in reckless harmonies because when it does, the band veers dangerously close toward territory already covered by the Walkmen and late-era Modest Mouse, two touchstones that permeate the band’s woozy keyboard-laden sounds. This influence is most apparent on “Winston,” a banjo-tinged lament that seems directly plucked from the second half of Modest Mouse’s Good News For People Who Like Bad News. If Bound Stems are to ever distinguish itself beyond adequate craftsmanship, the band needs to start playing toward its strengths.

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