"All My Potential" by In Bloom

All my shoes

"All My Potential" is an apt title for Portland-based pop-punk band In Bloom's debut EP. The 6-song collection runs a total of 16 minutes and presents a well-rounded picture of the group's sound. It's certainly an enticing, if brief, listen - the songs are all energetic, uptempo rockers with well-thought-out lyrics and arrangements.

However, "All My Potential" feels more like a hint of things to come than a self-contained, finished work. The dynamic arc that usually gives albums their shape is noticeably missing, replaced with a balls-to-the-wall approach that finds In Bloom giving 110% on every track. A single acoustic song would have gone a long way in giving the EP more of album feel, but instead we have to settle for a couple of tacked-on acoustic outros.

Quick! Before someone notices!

Front and center is vocalist/guitarist Tim Reed's voice, which fits right in with the band's pop-punk sound. Overdubbed harmonies fill out the songs nicely, though in some places additional guitar counterlines could have accomplished the same purpose.

The best track on the album is "Wear & Tear", which, through intelligent use of dynamics, builds to an inevitable-seeming climax that satisfyingly sums up the song. This is in contrast to tracks like "You Sew Me Up", which, while well-written, never quite hit the same sort of climax.

"Don't Let Me Go" is something of the oddball track on the EP, with unusual chord changes and some strange structural choices. It's a positive sign that In Bloom is willing to experiment with such things so early in their career. I hope that their next effort takes inspiration from this track as well as the more straightforward ones.

All in all, In Bloom's first effort is a positive, upbeat collection of well-written songs. It's certainly worth checking out, but I'm even more excited for what's coming next.

On Singing Live

It's funny how much credit we give to artists nowadays who can sing live. Before the invention and proliferation of recording technology, all singing, in fact, all music, was live. A singer who couldn't sing live wasn't a singer.

However, there are definitely singers today who can't sing their studio-recorded songs live. Some can't even come close. So, what happened?

The first and most obvious explanation is that actual vocal talent is currently being ignored in favor of aspects such as image and marketability. While this may be somewhat true, it is hard to believe that there are not individuals who possess adequate amounts of both vocal talent and marketability; these people would logically be chosen before those with good image and less talent.

When complaining about the consistency of a singer, we often forget that inconsistent methods of singing can result in interesting and novel sounds. Popular culture has largely rejected "classical" methods of singing, preferring timbres that startle and surprise them. While someone with a run-of-the-mill good voice is pleasant to listen to, it's not enough to convince the public to buy their albums. There has to be some special quality to it, something that we've never heard before.

So, where are all of the good singers? Well, there are still plenty around, but the sound of a well-supported, balanced vocal tone is old news to the world of pop music. We prefer novelty: harsh, undisciplined screaming run through massive amounts of compression or exuberant, amateurish vocalizations made consistent through the use of pitch correction software. Even singers today who can achieve some level of consistency employ questionable techniques, often tightening up to hit certain pitches rather than shifting registers.

So, next time you complain about a particular artist's lack of ability in live performance, remember what the recording sounded like - that's the timbre that their inconsistent technique makes possible.

WARNING: may also lead to gratuitous "you sing it!" moments in live performances.