Review Summary: Disappointment Island? Kinda
Disappointment Island? Yeah, in places!
Oxford based math rock veterans TTNG are somewhat renowned as pioneers in their field, with Tim Collis’ innovative twinkling guitar leads and Chris Collis’ mind bending, seemingly impossible drum grooves, they have established themselves as the “big dogs” in the math genre. Disappointment Island is their 3rd LP, following the release of 13.0.0.0.0 in 2012 marking lead singer Henry Tremain’s debut, after the departure of vocalist Stu Smith. This LP is the first to have the band as a 3 piece with Tremain taking over bass duties as well as vocals, so going into it I expected a somewhat different sound, and boy did I get it.
The album kicks off with “Coconut Crab”, a slightly gentler approach whilst still being upbeat and interesting enough to capture the listener. Henry’s slightly nasal-y wilting vocals deliver a very dry melody over Tim’s slightly more rhythmical guitars than what we expect from a typical TTNG song, but this song definitely sets the tone for the whole album, peaking with a more explosive ending that makes you sit up and pay a little more attention. Solid song to get us going for the rest of the LP.
Following “Coconut Crab” we have “A Chase Of Sorts”, which immediately began to sound like a more traditional TTNG song. Bouncing drums and complex guitars that never seem to repeat a whole phrase the same twice, with vocals that seem to have endless dynamics jumping up and down continuously, a motif we will see much more throughout the album. A nice jumpy tune, a little lacking a true hook, but still pleasant.
“Consoling Ghosts” comes next, which begins with a soulful delivery of vocals and bass unaccompanied from Henry, before sparking into life with fast, shuffling drums and guitars. This song left me somewhat apathetic towards it, feeling lacklustre at points without any direction behind it. Consoling Ghosts picks up in the middle and I began to get more into it, before cycling back to the main chorus again at the end and wiping any standout features of this tune. Overall not bad, it just didn’t catch me in the way I felt a slower tune should.
The next track is the complete opposite. “In Praise Of Idleness” (I assume named after the Bertrand Russell essay of the same name) is a highlight of the album at a time where it was direly needed. The feel of this song is quite dark and understated, but throughout listening to the track I felt it had everything Consoling Ghosts was missing; A catchy hook, nice slow breaks to the vocals and a blinding ending that leaves you wanting more. Also a rare use of effects on Tim’s guitars, using some tremolo in the bridge and overdrive towards the end. Hank seems on point in this song, delivering the solemn lyrics in a passionate but appropriate manner with trademark falsettos throughout. Excellent song.
Going 2-for-2 in the midway point of the album, “Whatever, Whenever” is, probably without much doubt, the best song TTNG have done since the release of their seminal full length, Animals. The main bulk of this track has just about anything a person could expect from a good math tune, with a solid drum groove and excellently flowing guitars sounding like a sonic waterfall, but it’s at the halfway point that this song begins to get interesting. First, we have an interesting bass break from Hank that begins to build with the rest of the band coming in one by one, then we have something new that I would have never anticipated - real post-rock. The last minute of this song highlight an amazing new side to the band with a large building riff that repeats into an almost meditative state with huge washy distortions coming through. I recall being lucky enough to see this song live prior to the release of the LP, hearing the man next to me remark “I bloody hope that’s on the album”, and I’m glad it was.
Following this huge ending of “Whatever, Whenever”, we have another slower tune along similar lines of “Consoling Ghosts”, “Bliss Quest”. This song has a nice, gentle flow to it that almost feels like it was intended to be a ‘filler track’ that got developed a little more. It picks up more towards the end of the song and takes on a much more spiky, staccato feel that gives the tune interesting weight before moving back towards its flowing chorus and a fading, reversed outro reminiscent of “Quetzal” from Animals. Not a bad song in itself, but not much to comment on overall.
After “Bliss Quest”, we have “There's No ‘I’ In Time”. This track took me by surprise, beginning with a nice gentle riff and laid back drum groove that made me think this song would be a relatively straightforward song with a nice vocal melody that would serve to fill out the album. Like some of the other songs on this LP, it was at the halfway point that this song came into its own, exploding into a groovy, start-stop chorus featuring some almost unheard-of vocal harmonies from Hank that formed an ultimate hook, securing this song’s place in the highlights of the album, with one of the only critiques being it almost ends a little too soon, as if there was further chance for development here.
With one of the best song titles I think I have ever seen, “Destroy The Tabernacle!” awakens the listener from whatever lull the previous track may have put them into. This song has a fairly sparse arrangement and a surprisingly simple groove for such a technical band, but it has a different feel to the songs that came before it, almost as if it was written separate from the others. This tune has an excellent “breakdown” of sorts in its middle section but I’m afraid I was turned off the whole thing by Henry’s overly-yelped vocal delivery that, whilst may have been fitting for other songs, didn’t add to this tune. At almost 4 minutes long, the main riff seems overly stretched in some places, and almost begins to outstay its welcome before the end.
In a close 2nd for best song titles is the following track of “Sponkulus Nodge” (don’t ask, don’t know). This song seems to form the opposite for Tabernacle, with another fairly loud and rambunctious tune, but with complex, restless drums and a very tight knit production to it. This song also features two elements hinted at in previous songs: Gentle, understated vocal harmonies from Tremain, and thick distorted guitar tones from Tim that make this song the quintessential “Disappointment Island” track. With several different sections that seem to chop and change this track doesn’t hang around either. A certain pick-me-up before the album closes.
This LP ends with the longer “Empty Palms”, getting straight into it with a washy, crash-heavy drum sound and twinkling, busy guitars before calming down and getting soulful again. This track never stops properly, though, constantly changing between gentle breaks and fast, guitar driven verses in a Schizoid pattern somewhat reminiscent of former label mates and Math pioneers Meet Me in St Louis. I think this track is Henry’s swansong both lyrically and vocally, giving his most honest words that seem to echo the whole album “I am broken and no good”, without the jarring dynamics that litter the previous songs. This one seems honest and emotional, a perfect end to the album.
Overall, I did enjoy this LP, certainly with midway highlights of “In Praise Of Idleness” and “Whatever, Whenever”, and it seem like a logical progression in sound for the band, who have clearly matured since the filler-heavy release of 13.0.0.0.0 and the formulaic Animals, which is always enjoyable to see. However this album is let down but its less appealing slower tracks or those that seem half-finished from a listener's perspective such as “Consoling Ghosts” or “Destroy The Tabernacle” that just put me off listening to the whole thing at once, and tarnish the whole LP’s balance. I would still recommend you listen to “Disappointment Island”, as the release is filled with little hooks and gems that constantly excite and entice you.
