Review Summary: Sorry Potsy
So I was assigned this album for Silentpotato's album reviewing game, and I've been dreading reviewing it because I kind of hate it. I know I should like it, I mean it's chock full of intense and all over the place guitar playing, a pounding rhythm section, and charismatic vocals that I seem to usually like, but for some reason Dilute's debut album turns out being much less than the sum of its parts.
Dilute are weird and abrasive, and it feels like they're trying too hard to make their music an unlistenable cacophony. Dilute play a similar brand of indie rock as bands like Built To Spill and Modest Mouse; the kind of indie that tend to have long songs with many parts and always ends up on the weird side of things. Dilute have everything those bands have, but manage to overdo all the elements that make these kinds of bands great.
Every song on Gypsy Valentine Curve is over five minutes long, with the final three tracks all crossing the ten minute mark. The first few tracks are enjoyable enough, but the last three tracks make for a truly exhausting album. A lot of the latter tracks just feel like jamming that goes on forever with no point. The musicianship is adept enough, but there's no emotional connection and it all feels like the band just doesn't know when to end songs.
Gypsy Valentine Curve is technically a good album, but by the end of it loses any appeal it once had by dragging on for way too long and I end up never wanting to listen to it again. Dilute have made quite the chore of an album with interesting parts popping up every now and again, but not nearly enough to make for an enjoyable listen.
