...Until the World Is Beautiful ostensibly does everything right. As a sophomore album, it's a further assertion of the Portland band's sound and a further step away from the shadows of their influences, who comprise a laundry list of post-punk heroes from the obvious (the Cure, Joy Division, Wire) to the less obvious (the Sound, Section 25, Comsat Angels). As an album, period, it's solid, sleek and professional, and it sounds good. So why doesn't it grab me?
If anything, the album is the opposite of a grower. The first time through, it sounded pretty cool, but several listens later the songs haven't sunken in, and all the tightly managed guitar outbursts are flat and monotonous. The only song on the record that breaks the band's mold is the last one, "Untitled", a slow, dubbed-out instrumental swimming in inky synths and minimal, clean-toned guitar figures. On the other end of the album, "The Glow" is a fine, punchy opener, with a galloping drum part and a bassline nicked from Peter Hook's back pocket to support one of vocalist David Frederickson's better melodies.
Frederickson's deadpan voice is likeable, even more so when he's paired with bassist Mistina Keith, but only a few of these songs give him enough compositionally to be interesting, much less memorable. "Like Hearts" is one of these, containing the record's best vocal hook in his forcefully enunciated "Please don't dramatize," followed by a repeated five-note guitar phrase that acts as something of a backup hook. It works nicely on its own, but the second time through, the guitar hook lurches into a long passage of amelodic strumming that puts an unfortunate drag on the song.
The band doesn't always take that song's command not to dramatize seriously, particularly on "Infection", a song almost uniformly covered in furiously strummed, heavily distorted guitar that delivers its lyrics little more than one word per line and still doesn't sound quite as huge as intended. This has something to do with the fact that the song is dynamically similar to almost everything else on the record, so the big meltdown before the unexpectedly thoughtful closing instrumental is trying to peel paint that's already been stripped.
...Until the World Is Beautiful is a frustrating record, because it showcases a competent band with a potentially interesting sound and a paucity of songs to match their ambition. Purportedly, the band got its start when Keith accosted Frederickson after seeing his then-band play a lackluster show and the two agreed to start a band of their own on the spot, in spite of the fact that Keith didn't play an instrument. Harnessing that spark of inspiration will be crucial for the band going forward as they hone their craft. For the moment, it sounds good, but doesn't stick.
