If Time is Fiction, what else is?
Posted January 19, 2009
By Nathan,
After an impressive debut album, A Burn and a Shiver, the alternative indie rock quartet named after and Thomas Alva Edison and composer Philip Glass is out to avoid putting clichés in their music. And avoid clichés out they do as nothing on Edison Glass’ sophomore album, Time is Fiction, is typical of any rock group.
While discussing the style of music on their second album lead singer Josh Silverberg said that “instead of trying to toward a certain style, we’re writing happens and letting that be the style”. The first three songs definitely lean toward that style. In the ten minutes listeners are exposed to a rough frenzy of reckless indie rock (“let go”), fast paced incoherent vocals and tunes (“Cold condition”), and strange guitar riffs and pop rock music (“without a sound”). Sadly (or not so sadly to those who prefer disjointed indie rock music) many of the bands tune are disorganized such as the unflowing “The jig is up” which has Silverberg screaming in places, and the light guitar driven “chances”. There isn’t too much on Time is Fiction that is radio friendly, in fact if you are going to take in Edison Glass’ music it will take a significant investment.
Those who stuck it out will find plenty of solid alternative tracks to enjoy. While “all our memories” is disjointed the Myriad-like-alternative-sound has a good indentifying chorus and although “time is fiction” starts out with the simple disjointed sound which engulfs a good portion of the album the song progresses and becomes a complex highlight with terrific music. The guitar led ballad “Jean Val Jean”, while not absolutely jaw-dropping, is impressive as it has the highest amount of emotion on the CD. Silverberg high vocals mix excellently with Josh Morin vocals on the more traditional rock tune “Children in the streets” and “see me through” excels with its originally placed background vocals, a consistent beat, and impressive guitar riffs.
The music isn’t the only thing avoiding clichés as their songs certainly don’t portray ordinary song writing. While it’s good to stick with originality it’s not so smart to boil down the spiritual references to Cold Condition’s ‘We need warmth to come/In our cold condition/We need you to visit us’. Fortunately amid the vague references to God are calls to Him on the title track (‘I can hear it/You told me I can be a plug/All I have to do is believe/And I all I need to do is breathe’), “the jig is up” which puts trust in Christ, and “end of you” which contemplates God’s beauty and glory. Strong songwriting shows up in the form of “Jean Val Jean” about the prisoner in Les Miserables and his choice ‘between grace and pride’. The convicting “children in the streets” raises attention to those in poverty.
Among the well crafted music, well written lyrics, is well, a flawed album. Getting the most out of Time is Fiction will definitely require a few spins and probably a few skipped tracks, but in the end Edison Glass’ group of spiritually vague, yet relevant songs with innovated alternative indie music alongside is a solid sophomore effort. View All Music And Book Reviews By Nathan | View Nathan's Profile
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