Cody

Chronique

When it was time to follow up their excellent 2014 album, Never Hungover Again, Joyce Manor made a couple of big mistakes. First, they booked a real studio and hired alt-rock veteran producer Rob Schnapf, then they listened to him when he made "suggestions." The band had previously recorded in bedrooms and basements, getting a lo-fi sound that was raw but thrillingly alive, and totally suited to their desperately emotional style. On Cody, they worked in a real studio, with lots of time and money to spare, they got the benefit of Schnapf's skills at flattening out bumps and smoothing over any sonic disruptions, and most crucially, they were the recipients of his knowledge of how songs are supposed to be structured. In the past, Joyce Manor songs burst out of the gate already at full power, bounced around for a minute or maybe two, then vanished in a cloud of overheated amps, broken drum sticks, and ragged throats. They didn't worry about imprinting choruses in listeners' brains through repetition, they didn't do dynamic builds, they didn't bother with bridges or acoustic ballads. They just hit hard, made some noise, and got out quick. Schnapf schooled them on how to make songs last longer, how to structure them the right way, and how to make them sound just like everyone else in the process. No more weirdly short songs, no more 18-minute-long albums, no excitement...just standard-issue emo pop delivered with all the individuality of a bunch of cardboard cutouts set up inside a mall clothing-store window. It's a shame, because Barry Johnson still knows how to write a sharp hook; they are just dulled by the lifeless production and the cookie-cutter approach. Only a couple of the tracks land, the fast and catchy ones like "This Song Is a Mess and So Am I" and "Angel in the Snow," though even their impact is lessened by the squeaky-clean sound and measured performances. The sometimes silly lyrics don't help out much, either. Making matters worse, Johnson's vocals sound less passionate and more under control, the guitars don't have the same bite, and new drummer Jeff Enzor is arguably stronger than the guy he replaced, but he's more predictable. It's a real shame that the band decided to make the "right" choices on Cody; the wrong ones they made on previous albums always worked for them. Never Hungover Again seemed like the start of something impressive, but Cody sounds like a cynical career move by a band whose members are more concerned with getting their songs placed on TV shows than they are with spilling their guts, kicking up some noise, and making music that matters.

© Tim Sendra /TiVo