Review Summary: Tries so hard to be unique that it forgets itself in the process.
Upbeat, melodic, laden with electronics and synths and cheesy lyrics delivered by two mezzo-soprano sisters – characteristics of The Veronicas, Australian pop duo. They’ve come a long way from their humble, pop-friendly roots ten years ago, enjoying a moderate amount of success by being as straightforward as possible. They have been following the precept of “be as radio-friendly as possible” with varying degrees of success – they’re moderately popular, and their live performances are unexpectedly theatrical and creative, but nothing about them has ever really stood out amongst the gradually increasing number of artists in the pop market. Perhaps they noticed this, because the buildup to this album was palpably tense; the Origliasso sisters promised a “progressive pop” sound, not wanting the album to be “predictable in any way”; “eclectic.” And now, after seven years of not releasing an album, their self-titled third LP has come out, and, by God, they… really, really tried.
On
The Veronicas, it sure seems like they were trying to stumble upon genius, rather than actually having a decent idea of what they really wanted to do; and that is the album’s major downfall. This LP is not at all confident about what it truly wants to be – at times it is full of restless electronics, downbeat drum kits, other times it is formulaic pop like they’ve always done, at other times there are acoustics, or even pop punk, and only rarely are all these different ideas used in intelligent, fun ways.
You can’t criticize the sisters for being eclectic and open-minded, but it’s unlikely that somebody will enjoy all of it. For one thing, the album can be incredibly disjointed – this is especially apparent in “Line of Fire”, a disaster of a song that incorporates electric guitar, synth bass, harmonies, industrial drum beats,
anything to make it “eclectic”. None of the aforementioned elements ever really mix together or work, and the result is an incredibly inconsistent track. The opening song “Sanctified” is guilty of this as well – it’s a slow-paced song that focuses largely on an uninteresting banjo melody at first, but over time becomes louder and incredibly trippy – noise, basically, too loud and too bombastic to be remotely enjoyable. Even on the moments when The Veronicas stick to do what they did on their last two albums (melodic, vaguely rock-infused electronic songs), it sounds like they aren’t even trying; “Teenage Millionaire” is a joke, and the lyrics are comically terrible and cheesy:
“We don’t need no jet plane, we don’t need no ride.
Baby, when you kiss me, I feel like I could fly, with a love like this, love like, love like this.
You make me feel like a teenage millionaire;
You make me feel like a famous love affair.”
However, it is possible to move past the truly bad parts and judge the album on its own merits, even if its merits are a bit shabby themselves. “More Like Me” is by far and away the best tune on the album; they ditch the wide, confusing array of instruments in favor of a drum kit, guitar, and a single keyboard, but they also ditch their electronica roots and aim for a rock vibe. It’s not a particular masterpiece in terms of songwriting, but it’s one of the only confident, triumphant-sounding songs on the album, a song that is completely comfortable in its own shoes. “Always” is a fairly thrilling song driven by a pounding drum beat and piano intermixed with the occasional string section and acoustic guitar, the only time when all of these instruments actually coalesce into something interesting. “Let Me Out” is a spooked, minor-key ballad that works far better than the Beatles-esque album closer “You and Me”; some of their best songs are on this album, without a doubt, and perhaps if they had focused more on the rock elements of the album, it would have been more enjoyable, because they sure seem to be good at it.
The problem with The Veronicas’ self-titled LP is simple – they wanted to graft progressive elements into their music when they really have no use or talent for it. You can’t accuse it of being a narrow-minded album, either, or say that their ideas don’t work in spades – indeed, this album is very impressive in the context of the music The Veronicas made before it. Still, that context isn’t much to talk about, and their musical chops haven’t really been expanded in a consistent or meaningful way. The album sounds pretty thanks to solid production and, at 45 minutes, isn’t a very long affair, but almost all of the appeal is surface-level, the exact opposite of what the Australian duo was aiming for.
