More and more bands these days are following the route of giving away their music for free. Some isn’t even worth the bandwidth required to download it. Others, Cast of Cheers’ Chariot a prime example, is gold. Thankfully Triage, the debut from Dublin seven-piece CFIT, falls closer to the latter group. An indie-electronic affair, Triage proves the band have an ear for a tune and an eye for a witty lyric or two and they have assembled a rather good piece of work, while not quite living up to their contemporaries.
Opener ‘Great Pressure’ sets the tone for the album as it experiments with a multitude of different sounds, instruments and effects. It builds in power for the first three minutes before cutting back to something quieter and more reverential before the drums kick back in for the last minute. ‘Don’t Sweat the Small Shit’, a far more tender song than the title may imply, is next up. The male/female vocals work well together and are nicely complemented by the xylophone and minimalist drum-machine.
‘The Static’, the most rock of the songs of the album, is reminiscent of Bloc Party’s ‘Hunting for Witches’. Jangling guitars and echoed vocals are mixed with electronic beeps and endlessly propelled forward by the heavy drum beats.
‘Sideways’ sounds almost like Queens of The Stone Age circa Lullabies to Paralyze. The lead singer croons like Josh Homme with only a banjo for accompaniment. As the song progresses first pianos, then strings and drums are added as the soundscape builds until eventually ending in a cacophony of strings like ‘A Day in the Life’ by the Beatles.
The album, unfortunately, stumbles at this point. ‘Base Isolation’ is fine without ever hitting any high points, while ‘Chemical Memory’ serves its purpose as a short segue into the latter part of the album and ‘Dig Up’ too is somewhat nondescript. The oddly titled ‘Throw the Babies to the Wolves’ sounds like it could be lifted directly out of Magnetic Fields’ 69 Love Songs.
The penultimate song on the album, the epic ‘Plausible Deniability’, is probably the highlight. It starts out as an obscure lilting love song with lyrics that could be written by, again, Magnetic Fields. The subject is urged to “Stay safe you little psycho”. It builds and builds before reaching a crescendo just short of its seven and a half minute running time.
The last track, ‘Don’t Sweat the Smaller Shit’, is a reprise of the similarly titles track earlier on the album and, while not offering anything new, bookends the album well.
The only flaw to be found with this album – one that means it’s good and not great – is the lack of something to really grab the attention. Witty lyrics and well-constructed tunes are all good but there is not quite enough here to make it essential listening.
Ultimately, though, the album still fits together extremely well. The tempo variations will get you going before calming you down. Their sound as a whole manages to be at times expansive while intimate elsewhere. Occasionally, it manages the rare duality of being both at the same time. And, while it is neither unique nor revolutionary, it is a good piece of work to listen to. And all it will cost you is thirty six minutes of your time.