The Melody Unit
Odds Against Tomorrow
The Melody Unit Publishing
By borrowing the formula from bands like Olivia Tremor Control and the Beta Band, the Melody Unit offers a mixture of diluted pop and watery music experimentation with the reverb kicked up on high. While it wavers between pretentious and interesting, the anything-but-clean guitars and keyboards are loaded with effects, giving even the straight pop elements of the album a dreamy floating-landscape kind of feel. Vocals are often a male-female duo accompanied by wooing harmonies, and are buried within the music so as to texture the music instead of drive it.
Many of the tracks will go on for minutes with simply a weaving guitar strumming and vaguely identifiable instruments fading into the background; a few tracks contain nothing more than that. It’s as if the Melody Unit intends to project an our-own-little-world concept to the music, which they allow to infiltrate their pop songs more than, say, the occasional pop gem of Olivia Tremor Control. Tunes will float aimlessly for a while and, although there often isn’t much at the forefront of the music, the detached and other-worldly ambiance of the songs are relaxing and conducive to wandering minds.
The Melody Unit Publishing, P.O. Box 81005, Seattle, WA 98108; http://www.themelodyunit.com
