BoDeans
Resolution

(Zoë/Rounder)

First Appeared in The Music Box, July 2004, Volume 11, #7

Written by John Metzger

It undoubtedly is a bit astonishing that, over the course of its career, the BoDeans' has made only minor modifications to its trademark sound. Even coming in the wake of an eight-year absence from the recording studio, the group offers little on its latest endeavor Resolution that is new. Instead, the BoDeans dabbles in the same inoffensive, jingle-jangle arrangements that long have been its bread-and-butter. Then again, few ensembles, this late in their careers, are willing to risk alienating a preexisting base of fans by offering them something that is even slightly unfamiliar.

Whenever the BoDeans does stray from its feel-good pop formula, the sidetracks prove to be needless distractions as well as major disappointments. The ballads are exceedingly dull; the attempts at psychedelia are strangely ineffective; and the grittier, blues-oriented guitar solos seem oddly out of place. Much like its Scottish brethren del Amitri, it’s only when the BoDeans delivers its pleasantly innocuous folk-rock tunes with beautifully intertwined harmonies that it achieves any degree of success. Unfortunately, the end result is still better employed as background music for a summer barbecue rather than an evening of serious artistic examination and discovery. ½

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Ratings

1 Star:   Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2004 The Music Box