Dallas Green -- the name sounds like that of a prizewinning racehorse or a suburban Texan neighborhood. In reality, this is the moniker of a man most famous for being the lead rhythm guitarist and background vocalist for post-hardcore emo band Alexisonfire -- a dubious honor, no? Fortunately for those readers out there who despise screamo music, Green has a solo acoustic side project titled City and Colour -- a sound that is anything but hardcore. In fact, Alexisonfire and City and Colour are about as different as Paris Hilton and Vladimir Putin ... that is, unless Paris Hilton starts a career in Russian politics by the time this article runs.
But enough about that pesky socialite. Let me get back to the music review. Green, a 27-year-old from St. Catherine's, Ontario, started City and Colour back in 2004. That same year, he released his first EP, The Death of Me, under Dine Alone Records. In 2005, he dropped another EP as well as his first full studio album, Sometimes. The album was met with mixed reviews: Some called it promising, others labeled it as genius and a few claimed it was just plain mediocre. As it turns out, I'm going to have to echo the latter sentiment in reference to City and Colour's latest album, Bring Me Your Love.
While in my eyes the album is a bit of a letdown, it's apparent how much passion Green has poured into the disc -- his first in three years. He's not your usual sweet-voiced acoustic guitarist (think: Jack Johnson, Ben Harper), most likely because of his unique prior experiences as a musician. I can't think of many guys in a screamo band who decide to launch a mellow project on the side just for kicks. It's a shame that Bring Me Your Love's end product is an uneven mixture of hits and misses.
Green's haunting, husky baritone rears its head majestically in patches. "Sleeping Sickness" and "Body in a Box" are my two favorite songs from the album -- but they are also the most upbeat rhythmically. I grew tired of Green's monotonous melancholy chords and verses real fast. Even in those two aforementioned songs, the lyrics are still incredibly depressing. "Sleeping Sickness" has a very diverse blend of miserable lines, including "I am all/ alone" and "Leave me all/ alone." Meanwhile, if the title "Body in a Box" didn't sadden you enough, just take a moment to soak in these opening lyrics: "There's a funeral precession on the highway/ Traffic screeches to a halt."
Okay, maybe I'm ragging on Green's suicidalesque musings a little too much. After all, everyone has a musical niche to fulfill. Britney Spears sings songs about turning into a slut. Will Pugh, lead singer of Cartel, has a voice that sounds like he's a girl turning into a slut. And here is Dallas Greene, reminiscing about how he wants to kill himself because his girl turned into a slut -- or something along those lines.
It turns out that City and Colour's name is more interesting than any of the songs from Bring Me Your Love. Dallas is a city, and Green is a color, so... maybe that's not too fascinating. What will be fascinating, though, is to see the kind of reception that the album's first single, "Waiting..." receives. I'm puzzled as to why this was picked to be the initial single -- it blends in all too well with the tediously gloomy tunes toward the end of the disc and it definitely was not one of the more memorable highlights. But perhaps it's a sign that all of City and Colour's fans will are going to be waiting patiently for Green's future, hopefully better, attempt.
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