Review Summary: No rules, No limitations
Life can be real serious and sometimes people take certain aspects of it and things they love to do in it too seriously all the time an tend to miss out on just the pure enjoyment of it all.
Sometimes though people lighten up a bit and just do things to have fun, be creative and not worry so much about the final results or what other people think of it afterwards and this is a result of that.
"Spring Break!" Is a one time lo-fi pop/sound art album written and recorded while on spring break in 2012 with no obligations or rules other than the time limit.
Created by Sam Ray (Of Ricky Eat Acid, Teen Suicide, and Julia Brown) and the contributions of his close friends. They come to deliver a album that is a varied and mixed collection of songs. While not the most cohesive it works as a overall project.
Production wise this thing is considered lo-fi but everything is clear sound wise and fits the album well with most songs sounding like they were recorded externally and done first take which adds a real organic sound and is really part of the appeal and charm. Overall genres on this range from ambient electronic music, to spoken word, but with mostly indie pop songs taking up the majority of space on this album that can include elements of piano, keyboard, guitar, and drums.
With the time limit and overall raw feel to this project it really aids and benefits to the sound of some songs while others sometimes suffer because of this.
Diving into it, the songs that take a more indie pop direction like the "False Start song" and "i was favorite tv show the summer my tv broke" work so well due to the overall simplicity and personal feel of them. The former being done in one take with actual false starts in the beginning is very amusing and really shows off a human element. Once the drum beat gets going though and the semi-intricate guitar comes in they compliment each other perfectly, with a infectious lighthearted vocal performance joining the fray covering a darker lyrical topic involving drug use that turns outs to be very effective. While the latter song being an a acoustic track with a slightly more serious tone it carries itself along nicely with an infectious riff and soft vocals before transitioning into some gorgeous atmospheric keyboard work. You can actually hear the keys being slightly pressed by the person here which further adds to the human element and really gives off a intimate vibe knowing that everything was done on the spot with nothing ever being heavily produced or forced.
Moving on to the more ambient spoken word side of things, there are three songs on this record that combine these elements together. Some more effectively than others.
The Standout being "eric reads a poem" for being around only a minute in length it covers a lot of ground in that time frame. Accompanied with sounds-capes that match the somber word delivery of simply beautiful lines such as:
"i am practicing to become a payphone outdated and full of quarters. time infinite and nothing all at once and i know of nothing more beautiful, but for now your heart is a 6-year old’s birthday party. Your mouth is a bed of flowers covered in snow." in context its very hard hitting. Even after the poem concludes the sounds-cape flows into reversed sounds with a invading, hauntingly beautiful vocal melody that really makes a memorable impact to the songs end.
Getting to some of the lows and showing a poor example of the spoken word used here is one called "first-kiss list" which while having another effective background piece, concept wise its literally just the singer Sam Ray trying to remember all the girls he has kissed and when they happened. While its a effort that shows how care free this project is at times, it really falls flat and comes off as extremely cheesy,rushed, and unnecessary. Unfortunately this rough and rushed feel rears its ugly head in other songs too. "The first snow of the year" and "my ghost pal" are indie-pop songs that don't fall as flat as "first-kiss list" but have worse production than most songs and both include out of place samples that lead to them being mostly forgettable tracks. Even with these missteps, and some tracks being more memorable than others, fortunately no other track ever reaches these low points.
As I touched on the sound-capes in the spoken word songs it leads me to bring up the two ambient electronic pieces "bill schafer is not a real person" and "the goodbye door" which wouldn't sound out of place on a Ricky Eat Acid album. Both are really strong tracks with amazing layers going on and don't miss the mark at all with "the goodbye door" being bleak and dense fitting as a perfect closer to this little project experiment.
Taking a rushed no rules, no limitations path can be risky and potentially turn out bad, but this album shows while the results cans be mixed. In the spur of the moment It can spark some great creativity that might not have happened under other circumstances.While having cons to this projects creative approach and obviously not being something that will be for everyone. As a whole it has enough highlights an moments to stay just above average and offer a somewhat unique listening experience that's hard not to find something enjoyable on here. For those that are fans of Sam Ray's work or are just looking for something really different to listen to this is recommended.
Check out:
i was my own favorite tv show the summer my tv broke
bill schafer is not a real person
in the dark
the false start song
