Tapes ‘n’ Tapes -‘Walk It Off’ (XL)

Oh, I hate it when this happens. In 2006 the blogosphere was abuzz with the news of Tapes ‘n’ Tapes debut album The Loon. It was arguably one of the most blog-indebted records since Arcade Fire’s Funeral. It was clearly out of the ‘indie leftfield’ indebted as it was to the Pixies and Pavement and yet had a distinctive flavour of it’s own.

So, two years later, the follow-up Walk It Off arrives. And I’m sad to report that, two whole listens and a few tracks I’ve tried to hone in on to change my mind…this is somehow just a deeply average record. It’s by no means a bad record, but somehow, much as I want to, I’m not falling in love with it like I want to. Tracks like ‘La Ruse’ and ‘George Michael’ are fine in their own way, but a couple of years ago it seemed like these guys could appear and have a major impact. Much to my disappointment, I cannot see this album winning Tapes ‘n’ Tapes any more fans. Yeah it’s got a few nice quirks, like the Pixies meets Pavement single ‘Hang Them All’ but this isn’t an anthem, just a nice enough single. The standout track ‘Dirty Dirty’ with it’s with refrain of ‘Where did all the money go?’ is redeems the album a little, but sufficiently for this reviewer.

Maybe after a few more listens my mind will change, but it’s not happening now.

**1/2

Daytrotter had Tapes ‘n’ Tapes in recently and they recorded four songs. check it out here

For earlier Tapes n’ Tapes music go here at their website