Two Gallants - The Bloom & The Blight Album Review

rating: 2.5

After a 5 year long hiatus from making albums, the Two Gallants are back with their 4th studio album. The album is 10 tracks long and can only be described as a mix of Mumford & Sons merging with a heavier than normal rock band. As they were away for so long, I decided to give some of their previous releases a listen. I quite liked the more melodic tunes from their past, and it almost appears like they have over cooked the rock element of the album. They have sent the album to an almost flipside from the melody of before, to hard rock guitar lines and powerful drumming. Maybe they left it too long between creating albums? Songs such as Broken Eyes, Decay and Sunday Souvenirs stick out as a glimpse of their folk/indie/rock background in the sea of rock that the album tends to veer towards. For a folk band I think they base themselves far too much in an electric sound. Blasting out loud electric guitar riffs works for certain bands, but in my opinion not here. It also feels to me that the lead vocalist is having to almost shout to be heard and not sing the lyrics at hand. Contrasting the two styles shown in the album display two different bands. On one side we have the melodic folk/indie/rock tones of the band's past works, and in the other we have overly shouty vocals which are battling against overly aggressive guitars. I'm not quite sure what to make of the album as a whole, as there are too many contrasting genres and themes combined into one album that doesn't quite know where to go. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k48FSbAijU The best song on the album for me is Broken Eyes. Classic Folk with only a slight dusting of rock, which keeps the track melodic and a pleasant listen. Broken Eyes sounds very much like the older tracks that I checked out before listening to this new album. This song also features a harmonica, which makes it infinitely better. Decay and Sunday Souvenirs that I mentioned earlier also keep their older style in mind, but do include a larger rock presence. Not so much to make the lead vocalist shout, but enough to increase the beat and keep the song moving forward. The rest of the album sounded very samey. Similar sounding tracks with no real distinction between them makes you think your CD player is stuck on repeat or your music player has crashed again. Overall I give it 2.5 out of 5. Could be a whole lot better, but then again a whole lot worse. Average, and will be easily forgotten compared to the larger folk bands out there such as Mumford & Sons. I recommend their older albums as they have a significantly higher folky vibe.
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