Search - Son Ambulance :: Key

Hear it now

alexander laurence | Los Angeles, CA | 11/17/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"
This is a band obsessed with 1970s soft rock music. Joe Knapp is a great songwriter who needs more attention. Songs like "Paper Snowflakes" evoke special moods. Other songs like "Chlorophyll" and "Case of You/Wrinkle, Wrinkle" are more psychedelic and Beatles inspired. This is the singer-songwriter movement revisited. It's another Saddle Creek release, not too much different from The Good Life and Now It's Overhead. It's a special record. They need to tour and be heard."

A good indie rock album off the infamous Saddle Creek Record

C. Cross | 01/05/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As of 2004, Son Ambulance joins the ranks of fellow Saddle Creek labelmates Bright Eyes and Cursive. Unfortunately the band isn't *as* good as those two. The album starts off pretty well - "Paper Snowflakes" is almost a hitworthy track. The first 5 songs are pretty good. As a whole, however, the album is a bit uneven and merely "good". After "Sex In C Minor" is where things seem to go awry. The rest of the album is usually interesting enough musically, though, that it somewhat holds your interest. It IS, however, kind of hard to listen to straight through. The singer does a reasonably good job - he's likable and definitely fits the band's style. Lyrically it's a pretty decent album, although it's hard to listen to them at times. Musically it's pretty cool - they use some interesting sounds in a lot of the songs (most notably "Sex In C Minor"). Except for the second track, "Paper Snowflakes", the album doesn't have too much mainstream appeal. It's not a bad album, but it's not great either. Indie rock and Saddle Creek fans should like it. Recommended.



Highlights include:

"Paper Snowflakes"

"Billy Budd"

"Chlorophyll"

"Sex In C Minor"

"Taxi Cab Driver" (kind of)

"Case Of You/Wrinkle, Wrinkle" (kind of)

"Pleasure, Now""