Daytime Volume – The Day We Transposed / 2007 Expunged / 11 Tracks / http://www.problemsolvingskills.org / http://www.redeyeusa.com / Reviewed 09 March 2007

The vocals on “Building By The Street” start off without anything in the way of fire or intensity. Of course, the track rolls on and there seems to be a little more effort put into this part of Daytime Volume, but the beginning of “The Day We Transposed” is not a strong one. There seems to be a break between the vocals and the instrumentation during “Building By The Street”.

There could be a little encroachment done on both sides, where the two sides could interact to make a stronger track. This unity is found during “Midwest Stars”, where both take a take that roughly equals each other. The energy present on “Midwest Stars” is at a low, and the nuance of the vocals does not seem to be sufficiently high to keep individuals interested. The tracks are solid and have great production, but it just does not seem as if Daytime Volume hits on all cylinders during the first two tracks of “The Day We Transposed”. The walking-bass like style of “Trouble Beyond The Fence” is something that is completely different from the typical style found on “The Day We Transposed”. With a more assertive (but still linked instrumentation), the results achieved by Daytime Volume are much more strong than prior efforts. The vocalist has the same inflection through the entirety of “The Day We Transposed”, which could be positive or negative based on how one feels. It could be positive if one feels as if “The Day We Transposed” is a cohesive album, or it could be seen as negative as the insertion of new sounds and styles by Daytime Volume is already low on the album.

The 40-plus minutes of this album goes by slowly, and while individuals might like the turtle’s pace, slow-style of Daytime Volume, there are few moments that really shine. One of these moments occurs during “So I Was A Skeleton”, a track that actually gets into heavy amounts of harmonies, allowing individuals to more easily identify with Daytime Volume. Daytime Volume has talent, but the tracks on “The Day We Transposed” are not compelling enough for individuals to stick with the disc, or to have it played on repeat. Give the band another listen just as soon as they come out with another album, but “The Day We Transposed” is an album that can be safely passed on.

Top Tracks: Midwest Stars, Traverse City

Rating: 3.6/10

[JMcQ]