Review Summary: I've had enough of your sad story.
It would be unjust to put a genre on Andres’ Strange Memories on this Nervous Night. It would be better to label it with a “feeling”. But which feeling would it be? Dreamy? Pessimistic? Love-struck? The answer is a strange, wonderful mix of all of these that make this album a wonderful, captivating experience.
First off, this album is CATCHY, infectiously so. From the opener “Bad Boy”, Andres hooks the listener with dreamy, poppy guitars and sweet vocals. Most of the songs on the album are very relaxed, however “I Know A Place” stands out as a faster song on the album. Although it is much more high-energy than the other tracks, it still feels consistent with the rest of the album. “Sunday School” is another notable track, where Andres uses a variety of vocal styles, like almost yelling about having “that dude’s neck” in his right hand, and later talking in an accent about taking you “out Los Osos, to the Montana de Oro”. All of these elements come together and form a unique, fresh sound.
When it comes to lyrics, Andres accomplishes something commendable in music. Throughout the album, he keeps a consistent personality that makes the songs feel genuine. Some songs reflect a cynical view of a 20-something fed up with hedonist friends and his desire for face-to-face communication rather than "keyboard-to-keyboard". It seems like a message that the millennial can relate to. Whether they agree with Andres or they feel called out, they can feel like a part of this album. "Darth Binks" (named after the notorious Star Wars villain) is from the perspective of him being sick of someone refusing to help themselves and dragging others around them down. And that really adds substance to this release. None of these songs are really about “love”. A lot of them address girls, but there is always a character flaw that seems to ruin it for Andres (egotistical, drugs, cheating). So really, these not-quite-love songs defy being cliché and superficial, making this album feel very “real”.
There really isn't anything bad about this album, just two things that keep it from being perfect. First, hearing a little bit more variation in the songs would have been nice. “Quinn” and “Puzzle” sound too much alike for either one to be notable. Both are decent songs, but if you’ve heard one, you’ve heard the other. The other is that “Salty” is just a boring track. Andres doesn’t do much to add flavor to this song to put it on the level that the rest of the album is on.
All in all, this is a phenomenal debut for Andres. If he can perfect this sound that he has on this record, the future looks very bright for him indeed.
