Everyone has skeletons in their musical closet. It’s a fact. We’ve got the bands we’re proud to listen to whose posters decorate our walls, whose T-shirts we own and whose concert tickets we’ll line up to buy (Jay-Z and TI anyone?). Then there are the groups we attempt to hide from people as they browse through our music library on iTunes. “Disney’s Greatest Hits Volumes 1, 2 and 3? Yeah, I got that because I baby-sit a lot at home.” Sure.
Keane is neither of those things. Known mostly as a “piano rock” band whose most popular song is probably “Somewhere Only We Know,” Keane is one band I’ll willingly admit that I like, but I’m not crazy about them. They aren’t incredibly innovative or daring, they’re just ... good.
Fittingly, Perfect Symmetry is a solid album, following for the most part their sound in both Hopes & Fears and Under the Iron Sea, their previous two albums. They do, however, borrow from The Killers and U2 a bit on Symmetry with more synthesizers and echoing vocals. Imagine Bono in ‘80s attire manning a synthesizer without his glasses (if you can).
Since buying this album Thursday I’ve been listening to it pretty much nonstop — again, not because I love it, but because it’s a great album to play from beginning to end. The songs are for the most part all upbeat, but songs you can either pay attention to, or tune out, as you study. Some of my favorites on the album are “The Lovers Are Losing,” “Again & Again” and “Love Is the End.” I’m not a big fan of “Spiralling,” the band’s first single from the album, but I don’t hate it either. Even the song “Pretend That You’re Alone,” which begins with some of the most ridiculous opening lyrics doesn’t provoke me to switch the song.
Now here’s the bad news. Although I’m not crazy about the album (I do, for the record, think it’s worth buying), there is one song that I’m pretty crazy about. What’s the bad news? Bad news is that the song came with the deluxe version of the album when it was pre-ordered on iTunes. Since its official release date, it has mysteriously disappeared. The song, “My Shadow,” sounds more like the Keane in Hopes & Fears but also incorporates a new sound that, unlike the rest of Symmetry, wouldn’t be confused with a new Killers single. If I let the whole album play, it’s because I listened to “My Shadow” first and then got distracted by studying for midterms. Never fear — even though the song isn’t available on iTunes anymore, YouTube will save the day should you want to listen to it.
Overall I would say Perfect Symmetry is completely worth the money. It’s the type of album that won’t make your favorites list on Facebook or inspire you to become a Keane-head, but it will make your ears happy nonetheless. Previous fans shouldn’t be disappointed, and new listeners won’t be confronted with an entirely new and intimidating sound. Even if this isn’t one of your trophy bands, it certainly won’t be embarrassing should someone happen upon it during an iTunes perusal. You can even be nonchalant about it – “Yeah, it’s a pretty good album, you might like it, I’ll burn you copy if you want ...” Go ahead, be someone’s musical guru.
The moral of the story is, listen to it if you want a band that will fit into your down time, but keep you awake at the same time. Oh, and should anyone be interested in Disney’s Greatest Hits Volumes 1, 2 and 3, come find me; I’ll be happy to indulge.
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