Rising from the wreckage of a failed record label and the departure of their drummer, The Appleseed Cast makes their return with Peregrine. This record marks their first with Casket Lottery drummer, Nathan "Nate Jr." Richardson. This band has many expectations to live up to on this record, especially considering the mixed reactions that their last album, Two Conversations, received.
"The Ceremony" leads Peregrine off in a mellow manner that is interspersed with cascading noise until the entire band comes in together. The band really allows this instrumental to breath and fill the audible space with a very pleasant melody that is complimented by the cascading noise and a bobbing bass line. "Woodland Hunter Part 1" starts in a really unique way with the vocals a background type of instrument. When the song changes, however, the vocals come to the fore front and kill the song for me. It ends like any other generic pop song. "Silas' Knife" is a great song, the best on the album in fact. There are dashes of lap pedal steel guitar and out of place acoustic guitar parts that keep the song changing. There is a section of the song that breaks in to an Elliot-esque sound. The accordion part is a killer. "Mountain Halo" has a weird almost programmed feel to it. It is really odd and reminds me a bit of The Rentals. "February" has a dancey sounding Brit-pop vibe going on that I do not care for. There are other bands that do it much better. "An Orange and a Blue" is a nice instrumental. I think The Appleseed Cast sound the most consistent when playing instrumentals. The songs have a breadth and color that is largely missing in many of the songs that feature vocals. "Song 3" is a good song with vocals. The effect on the vocals changes the shape of the track and the music has a similar quality to that of their instrumentals. "Woodland Hunter part 2" reminds me of Phil Collins-era Genesis, UGH! What a piece of horseshit. The programmed sound of the drums is annoying, and the music is utterly ridiculous. It is so overly melodramatic sounding that I skip the song about mid-way through it. I also hate the next song, "Peregrine." It might be because of the residual disdain that I hold for the previous track, but this one has that dancey like rhythm that is fast becoming an aural blight on the album. From this point, I decided against sitting through the rest of the album. I just couldn't torture myself any longer with the dance rhythm beats.
I am not sure Peregrine was the return that fans of prior albums of The Appleseed Cast were waiting for. There are definite high points such as "Silas' Knife," "Song 3," and a couple of the instrumental tracks; but other than that, the rest of the album was annoying and difficult to listen to all the way. I am unsure if I could recommend it to anyone. I would not want to be held responsible for any seizures that occur like the ones that I think I experienced while listening to Peregrine. Listen to the whole thing at your own riskââ¬Â¦but check out "Silas' Knife" it is a bright spot on a horrible album.
