Review Summary: Fun, enjoyable synth-rock, but nothing more.
As time has gone on, the indie scene has really begun to become more serious and depressing. Of course, that’s not to say that there aren’t fun, upbeat indie bands out there, but their numbers have substantially dwindled in comparison to the newer, more melancholy artists. Still, there has been widespread critical and commercial success among these bands, and it’s certainly understandable why. But sometimes, it’s just fun to kick back and listen to something a little less emotionally heavy. Something with less of an edge, and more of a cheerful attitude about it. Enter New York indie rock band Bear In Heaven. They’re no strangers to the scene, and with their fourth album,
Time Is Over One Day Old, they’ve created an enjoyable albeit somewhat repetitive piece of psychedelic indie.
The biggest thing working in the album’s favor is Bear In Heaven’s ability to utilize their psychedelic aspects to their advantage. From the mellow, layered vocals on “If I Were To Lie” to the distorted guitar and bass synthesizers on tracks such as “The Sun and the Moon and the Stars” or “Time Between”, the music manages to encapsulate the best elements of psychedelic rock, as well as give the band something to slightly differentiate themselves from others within the genre. At only ten tracks long, there’s never any real drag, and some of the better songs, particularly “Demon”, “Dissolve the Walls”, and “You Don’t Need the World” come in at the second half of the album, which can be seen as a positive or a negative. And most of all, the album just has a feel-good vibe to it. It never becomes too heavy or too complex, and is really just casual, laid-back music to relax with. However, not all of the songs are too memorable, and as aforementioned, there are still some repetitive moments on here, which could definitely be a negative for some.
All-in-all, this is still a great psychedelic indie rock album, and is mostly for those looking for a break from the more hard-hitting side of indie. It’s far from the best of the year, but it’ll still keep both hardcore and casual fans entertained for the time being. After all, it doesn’t hurt to have fun every once in a while, does it?
