Review Summary: Less sloppy than Southern Weather, but still average.
To put it bluntly, The Almost's Southern Weather was a mess of an album. No matter how great placing Underoath drummer/vocalist Aaron Gillespie in a mainstream rock setting sounded on paper, it just didn't translate well at all. The songs seemed to be written exclusively around catchy choruses, and in turn the verses and bridges were poorly thought-out and sloppy, not to mention that without Spencer Chamberlain there to provide balance, Gillespie's vocals started to wear thin after only a few tracks. With a new album in the distant future, Gillespie is set to release an EP to keep fans satisfied during the interim, although Lost in the Sound of Separation did the job just fine.
If you really think about it, The Almost are one of the most pointless bands out there. Although Gillespie is certainly talented within the confines of Underoath, neither his voice nor his instrumental talent are great enough to carry an album of his own, despite his knack for catchy hooks. Take for example the title track of Southern Weather. The chorus of that song was the best moment on the whole album and one of the most impressive moments of Gillespie's career with any band. However, the rest of the song was concocted haphazardly from shoddy riffs and ill-fitting verses. Even though he can write some great parts, he simply wasn't good enough to write great
songs. Luckily, No Gift to Bring shows potential. "Awful Direction" is anything but; if Gillespie takes his songwriting in this direction from now on, good things are ahead for The Almost. It's an acoustic track, with some of Gillespie's most heartfelt singing, and although some of his lyrics are generic (including the payoff line "I've been wrong, I've been right, but tonight I just want to be yours"), his vocal performance lessens the bad taste. The "full version" of "Amazing Because It Is" is made better in its first half by the inclusion of drums, but ultimately it lessens the poignancy of the original in the second half, as it takes away from the choir-assisted climax. The choir is also way lower in the mix than it is in the original, which is a huge disappointment. This reworked version poses the question that can be applied to The Almost in general: what's the point?
Gillespie's cover of "Little Drummer Boy" is saved by the musical arrangement he wrote for it, but hearing him bark "parum-pa-pum-pum" is laughable. If only Gillespie showed the vocal restraint that he did in "Awful Direction," he could have saved this song, but his lack of control brings down an otherwise skillful display of musical talent. The "McTague-Lectro" version of "Dirty and Left Out" is even more pointless than "Amazing Because It Is," with the added electronic drums giving the song a cold, emotionless feeling that desensitizes it. "Your Love is Extravagant" is the only other track where Gillespie gets it right. It's similar to "Awful Direction" in that it's acoustic and his vocal performance doesn't leave anything to be desired. However, the cheesiness of the lyrics can't be salvaged this time.
No Gift to Bring features two strong songs and three weak ones, but Gillespie is getting better at writing his own music. His growth is slow, but hopefully he can eventually make up for the mess that was Southern Weather by writing a decent full-length album. Don't hold your breath.
