Review Summary: It is definitely a bit of a step back from the debut but still contains strong moments.
Cursetheknife immediately knocked it out of the park with their debut. While they weren’t exactly reinventing the shoegaze wheel, they did make a strong album with memorable hooks and a mesmerising atmosphere. However, they did bring interesting ideas that they could have built upon even more, and this would have made Cursetheknife truly unique amongst all other shoegaze bands. Their sophomore effort,
There’s A Place I Can Rest, did not quite live up to that expectation.
One of the more unique sides of their debut was in their introduction/interludes. They added strings to the shoegaze formula, creating some simply hypnotic melodies. This is something I felt that the band should have incorporated more of in their music, whether that be in fully fleshed-out instrumentals or integrating it into the band's overall sound, but they completely abandoned it here. Outside of a few moments,
There’s A Place I Can Rest is a fairly typical modern shoegaze record.
What this record does superbly, however, is creating a spellbinding atmosphere with dreamy melodies provided by both the guitar and vocals. This skill was definitely not lost after
Thank You For Being Here.
Thrall is your typical yet brilliantly executed shoegaze track, with it beginning with subdued melodies that eventually break out into a climactic wall of noise, and
The Gift shows off the band's ability to blend groovy and heavy riffs with their ethereal style. Some of the most hypnotic moments in the album are found in the simpler tracks, such as
Big Ole House. Despite its concise two minute length and mellow soundscape, it still provides some of the most captivating and memorable melodies.
Another area of this album that is slightly disappointing is its length. As it stands at a brief 28 minutes with 9 tracks all between 2-4 minutes, it feels like it ends before it truly begins. Some of the tracks here would have benefited from extending the length, whether that be by adding more sections or by lingering on the already established hypnotic melodies a little longer. The brevity of the album is certainly damaging, as it prevents completely absorbing the album's enchanting ambiance.
There are still moments here of interesting, albeit mild, experimentation. Both
Parasite and
Cost of Living get to boast about being the most euphoric moments on the tracklist through the effortless inclusion of acoustic guitar and piano. This produces even more character and gorgeous soundscapes. The closing title track,
There’s A Place I Can Rest, is by far the most out there moment on the album as it brings the genre of country to the band's sound. It is almost an all acoustic track, with reverb thrown in the mix with simple yet effective vocal melodies carrying the track. It is a pleasant, albeit low-key and random, way to end the album.
Overall,
There’s A Place I Can Rest is a mildly disappointing album, as it fails to build upon the already strong foundations of the debut and needlessly shortens the length of its tracks. Despite this, what it does right, it does right. All the riffs, the melodies, and the atmosphere are strong, but they still could have been stronger. It is a good album, but its predecessor overshadows it.
