Artist: Big Dipper
Title: Crashes on the Platinum Planet
Rating: 3/5
I didn’t want to like Big Dipper’s Crashes on the Platinum Planet. I procured the album from a culling of the KDVS latest “top albums” list and sunk my teeth into it with the usual guarded interest. There were points when I despised the album. “Princess Warrior” seemed like a sad attempt by the vocalist to mimic some sort of edgy riff.
In the end the album had chops. It was hardly a music odyssey that captured my willful ears and strung them to its gallant trireme but by the end of its short singsong voyage my humors were soothed. If given two words to describe the album I would declare “easy listening.” This isn’t that new sound your cousin’s been looking for; on the contrary, hold the proverbial phone and understand it’s the usual regurgitation of soft-toned alternative vocals. With a few tweaks the blandness of this offering could mesh with most of your casual playlists and you’d be never the wiser.
It does have its lyrical moments; “Happy New Year” and especially “Lord Scrumptious” took the casual tempo and added some much-needed variety. It’s palpable gruel ready-whipped for the barnyard masses. Not the masses you were thinking of — they’re still downloading “Warrior.”* No, this album is the sort of stuff people who abhor the mainstream would tout like a Yavin Victory Medal. It’s a touch of the familiar, but sometimes the familiar keeps you warm at night. With winter fast approaching, maybe we need a little familiar.
*deluxe version obvi duh
Check out these tracks: “Happy New Year,” “Lord Scrumptious,” “New Machine.”
BEAUGART GERBER can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.
