Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros is really more of a music collective than a band. You should see them perform live (QRO live review). The stage is riddled with more people than you might have ever thought could be packed in a space that size, yet it is really the setting in which you should be exposed to this band. Their studio albums, while enjoyable, really do not do them justice compared with the energy and happiness they exude when playing a concert.
That being said, the group’s latest and self-titled collection of ‘new’ material falls a bit short when compared with their first two albums and especially when compared with that energy they display in a live setting. It was revealed shortly before the release of this album that the songs that make it up were actually written around the time of the group’s last album, 2012’s Here. So yes, this is technically a b-sides album and it definitely feels like a b-sides album. It’s tough to be able to entirely put this concept to words. These songs just don’t feel on par with songs like “I Don’t Wanna Pray” or “Home” (from the groups 2009 debut album Up From Below).
Standout tracks for this current group of songs are “In the Lion” with its swinging drumbeat, or perhaps album opener “Better Days” with its hopeful ode to forgetting days gone by and looking to what is ahead. The rest are fairly forgettable. Or, are still memorable in a not-so-good way, such as “They Were Wrong”, which sounds like a cheap imitation of a Johnny Cash song.
If you haven’t yet been exposed to Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros then try to see them live. And if that isn’t possible then start off by checking out either of their first two albums. You won’t be missing all that much by letting this new one sit for a few years before you get to it.
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Better Days
