7-04-03
By NIKKI SCHATZMAN
In a land of pop princesses singing about sex appeal, I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to see a band like Fiction Plane that isn’t afraid to make a bold statement, not about sex, but rather about their lives. Titling their debut CD “Everything Will Never Be OK”, you wonder what stories these musicians are going to share throughout their 12-song release. Just as the album’s title suggests, Fiction Plane makes a successful connection between musician and listener because everyone has been faced with a time in their lives where they have felt that “Everything Will Never Be OK”.
Indulging into the first track, it is apparent that Fiction Plane isn’t a typical rock band. What sets this group apart? It is actually quite simple. Fiction Plane not only puts heart and soul into their music, but into their band. As longtime friends, it is apparent that these bonds make Dan Brown, Seton Daunt, and Joe Sumner’s chords that much tighter and Sumner’s lead vocals that much more heartfelt. The range and depth that Fiction Plane has gotten their debut CD to deserves much praise.
The album starts out with a catchy track appropriately entitled, “Listen”, that not only shares a reoccurring upbeat guitar part, but a pain that is covered by love, overshadowed by death and wrapped up with the cynical feelings that we all face.
The album’s title track, “Everything Will Never Be OK”, practically tells it like it is. Lyrics share the reality of living in a world of pain and mixed desires to live in a world fueled by love, but the eventual realization that nothing is eternally perfect.
My personal favorite track, “Hate”, gets my head bobbing and soul juice racing throughout my body. It tells the story of a realization that the “the world is ugly” and no matter how tolerant you try to be of anything and everything, sometimes you just have to let yourself go and this track does just that.
Not all of the tracks are so rhythmically upbeat, and just like life, the album finds itself encompassing an acoustic “Fallow”, dealing with the touchy issues of sadness and the depression associated with feeling like a bare soul in a meaningless lifetime.
Even if you cannot make a connection with Sumner’s lyrics, it is impossible not to make a connection with the accompanying music and recognize the band’s phenomenal harmonious talent in playing together and fitting together. The songs completing this album are beautifully crafted and composed, almost making one take for granted the passionate accompanying vocals.
What makes Fiction Plane so unique and fresh is their ability to get inside of your head full of repressed feelings of doubt, love, and emotion and resurface these feelings in the forms of melodic and soothing, yet captivating beats that make “Everything Will Never Be OK” an album that is almost impossible to not listen to on repeat. Just as Fiction Plane shows you, deep issues don’t require solely acoustic tracks and work quite well as catchy tunes leaving you always wanting more. Just don’t hope to find any beautiful ballads about the freedom of love and endless frontiers of happiness and you won’t be disappointed. If you do as Fiction Plane has done with their album and recognize the faults with yourself and the world in order to then experience all it has to offer, you will be just fine.
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