College Times

Issue date: 3/20/08 Section: Music

Media Credit: Courtesy Big Hassle PR

Trances Arc's debut is a deceptive album. After spending the first half doing little more than play presentable power pop, the band suddenly provides four songs to end the album that are actually worth playing again and again. But getting there isn't necessarily easy: for five straight tracks, the band does little more than ape most of what passes for decent modern rock. These songs all rely on the same quiet verse/loud chorus dynamics, the same driving muted rhythm guitar lines that define most moody, yet upbeat songs that get played on television soundtracks and car radios. It is made worse with vocals that seem incapable of doing more than warble. Then, after a piano ballad that sounds way too much like Tori Amos, the band changes direction for the better. "Don't Like Leaving" is a song built on atmospheric guitars and deep bass, with space that provides the song with real emotional power. They then follow that up with "(XOXOX) Star Spangled," a riff-heavy piece of Southern hard rock, before finishing up with the subtle "In You're Out," and acoustic "Look Up," giving hope for a future outside the confines of what passes for safe rock music.

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