The Story Of – Until The Autumn

The Story Of formed in Appalachian Ohio 5 years and 4 albums ago, but now prefer to do their thing from Austin Texas. They are fronted by the intriguingly named Christman Hersha (some kind of anagram surely?) and utilise a fairly standard indie rock formation of guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards. Brass, a child choir, and string arrangements pop up, but their soft rocking breezy sound is nowhere near as eclectic as they would like to lead you to believe. This effort was recorded whilst shacked up in a cabin on the Colorado River that they converted to a studio. Self-produced, they proclaim it benefits from the 'intimate and naturalistic vibe we went through as it all went down'. It feels spacious and laid back in an appropriately autumnal sort of way, but nothing much more noticeably pastoral.Heavy on the lush bright melodies and the dreamy semi-falsetto harmonies, and with a low-key but sugar coated indie pop exterior, they rarely seem intent on striving for anything with too much bite. Here is a band after all who, when singing of a possible move to Mexico, are contemplating a job on an organic farm rather than an elongated Tijuana bender. That approach is their prerogative of course, but they still need to be able communicate emotion in what they do, and too often it feels like they are trying to make a mark but fall flat rather than just going for a slacker sound. On this evidence they lack the lyrical skill or simply the quirky unpredictability to maintain interest throughout. That said, they can summon up some catchy melodies and familiarity brings a certain easy jangling on the ear gentle smiling acceptance for a majority of the tracks, if ultimately failing to leave you with anything more than a sense of being limply 'nice'. You won’t react enough to turn it off, but neither will you be energised enough to search for it too readily. At quieter moments and easing into songs they can sound like Deathcab For Cutie, but never build and bloom to a chorus in anything like the same way. There are changes of pace and variations of tone and style thrown in, but they ultimately haven't the tunes or that indefinable presence to bring it all off to any kind of memorable conclusion.Low points are the attempts at grandeur: 'Veteran's Day' (clunky in tune and lyrics) and 'Sparrow' (drearily overblown). Looking to the positive, they score best precisely when they try least hard: 'The Flock' is a delicate stripped back tune that progresses with some whimsy whilst sung in contemplative hushed tones. For once some personality shines through. 'Anniversary' and 'Centralia' (the latter especially) are both upbeat tracks with good foundations but in each case The Story Of just hold back from the tipping point into real excitement. Just cut loose and give it some welly lads! Whenever occasionally aiming for an uplifting high, songs are in fact smothered in a damp cloying blanket of bland production with any real emotion washed out. It’s like they’ve overdosed on MTV (they are getting some exposure there) and keep descending towards that generic MTV lowest common denominator of blurrily thrashing indie guitar sound whenever they reach a (therefore muted) climax. The instrumentation needs to be more distinct and with room to breath. If they could capture a crisper live sound it would improve matters no end.This album is like a bottle of own brand Deathcab cordial - with a couple of ingredients from the original taken out and then diluted way beyond recommended levels. You drift away as you listen to it and on conclusion wonder where the last 40 minutes went. They’re in the early chapters of their career so there's time for some unexpected plot twists, but so far: where's the drama in The Story Of? 59%The Story Of on MySpace