Review Summary: Twenty channels and nothing's on.
I'm not going to pretend that I know a damn thing about the origins of this band, or even who is behind the ensemble. I don't feel that understanding the driving entities behind music are absolutely imperative to giving a solid, educational review. Make no mistake: If you read this, you will understand what you're going to hear from this album.
As you walk through the opening seconds of Televised Tragedies, you may be bewildered, off-put, or maybe even bored. You should come to expect such a feeling of underwhelming haze throughout the album; this is what Televised Tragedies is designed to do to your mind. What you initially hear is a tune that might best be described as elevator music one might hear on a slow, painful ride down to Hell. Each tune is interwoven with chimes and dings that have obviously been taken from the background of some 80s commercials, intermixed with chaotic, muttering voices spouting indeterminable lyrics.
Now, you might be asking yourself: "Why in the world would I care to listen to an album that bores and bewilders?" The answer also helps illustrate why I've given this album a rating of "great" instead of "average" or worse. The moments in which this album becomes interesting and escapes the monotonous, annoying "TV-commercial" nonsense are absolutely delightful and interesting. This is mood music, and over the course of this twenty-six minute stream of sounds, the vast range of emotions covered is fairly impressive. At times, I would find myself momentarily depressed, only to want to dance to the tune seconds later.
If you're bored, in a psychedelic mindset, or even if your cable subscription was just canceled and you want to feel that familiar dysphoric sensation one might get from zoning out to commercials, this could be your go-to album. Who knows? It just might evoke some emotional state you haven't felt in a while; hopefully, for my sake as a reviewer, it isn't anger toward me.
