Changing Tune – Lower Than Atlantis

By Siddharth Thiruvengadam on January 27, 2013

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Album : Changing Tune

Artist : Lower than Atlantis

Genre : Post-Hardcore

Album Length : 37 minutes

Label : Island Records

Band Lineup : Mike Duce (Lead Vocals, Guitars), Ben Sansom (Guitars), Eddy Thrower (Drums), Dec Hart (Bass Guitars)

Producers : John Mitchell, Ben Humphreys

British rockers Lower Than Atlantis are out with their much awaited third studio album, Changing Tune. This album has been recorded with a major label, Island Records (as a result of the performance of their last album, World Record). Changing Tune is more main stream than any of their previous works – there is more of an alternative/punk rock feel than post-hardcore, which caters to a larger rock audience. They don’t really explore any new musical territory here, and the album gets repetitive at times. Nonetheless, this is still an enjoyable record, especially if you’re into punk rock.

Here are the individual track ratings

Track	Rating
Prologue
Love Someone Else
Move Along
Wars with Words
Go on Strike
Scared of the Dark
Normally Strange
Something Better Came Along
PMA
Cool Kids
I Know a Song That Will Get On Your Nerves
Showtime

Here’s a bit about each of the tracks.

1. Prologue

The opener begins with an acoustic intro and gets heavier as the song progresses. It is a typical medium paced rocker, and showcases Mike Duce’s vocal abilities more than anything else.

2. Love Someone Else

‘Prologue’ makes an easy transition to the much-faster and energetic second track. This is a standard punk rocker, with nothing new/experimental to offer, and sounding like ‘World Record’ for the most part. The chorus is catchy.

3. Move Along

This is a good example of Lower Than Atlantis’ new musical direction. A typical alternative rocker, this song is slower and catchier than the previous song. No new ideas are explored here.

4. War With Words

Another typical alternative/punk rock song. The vocals are good throughout the song, especially on the chorus. We still don’t see any experimenting.

5. Go On Strike

This is has the same pop-punk rock style we heard on ‘Love Someone Else’. The short solo at 2:00 provides a refreshing change. This song was one of the album’s pre-release singles, along with Normally Strange.

6. Scared of the Dark

This is a fine acoustic ballad that once again shows us how good Mike Duce’s vocals are. It is slow paced, calm, and the great lyrics and melody make this song perfect for singing along.

7. Normally Strange

This track has a darker feel than any of the previous ones. Finally there is some variation from the regular punk rock we have heard till now (not much of a change though).The guitar work on this song is good, and it has a strong, catchy chorus.

8. Something Better Came Along

This is one of the best songs on the album. It is very melodic, and once again features great vocals by Duce. It is softer than most of the previous songs we’ve heard on this album.

9. PMA

The transition from ‘Something Better Came Along’ to this heavier, more-energetic rocker isn’t very smooth. It carries forward the darker tune introduced on the previous track.

10. Cool Kids

And we’re back to the pop-punk rock-ish style that the band has adopted for most of this album. Nothing noteworthy about this song.

11. I Know a Song That Will Get on Your Nerves

This song will definitely get on your nerves if you’re not too big a fan of punk rock – we’ve already heard too much of it on this album. This is a heavy song as compared to the rest (especially in its outro).

12. Showtime

This is probably the best song in the album. It has great vocals, and the mid-song tempo transition is done very smoothly. This seems to be the song in which the band has but their best efforts – the guitar work is much better than on earlier tracks, the chorus is strong, and it has a perfectly-fitting outro.

This album doesn’t live up to the expectations set by ‘World Record’. There are barely any new ideas, and seemingly very less effort; it’s just repetitive alternative-punk of which you’d get bored pretty soon. This is probably because this is their third album in three years; maybe the band needs to take some time off, and get some good material written rather than go with the flow and put out the same old punk rock we’ve been hearing for the last 15 years.

Best Songs on ‘ChangingTune’– Scared of the Dark, Showtime, Something Better Came Along, Love Someone Else

Verdict – A decent effort, which could use some new ideas and inspiration.

Album Rating: