To paraphrase my favorite critic, LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy: I hear you've sold your guitars, and bought an orchestra. Idea-starved and angst-weary, notable indie rock figureheads have been turning to the time-honored 70s supergroup writer's block remedy; namely, when in doubt, just add strings. Following the lush-struck lead of Lambchop and The Flaming Lips, more than a few bands have sought to Soft Bulletinize their sound, from Tim DeLaughter's cult of Coyne, The Polyphonic Spree, to the no-longer-in-denial soft-rock renegades of Belle & Sebastian.
As such, The Silent League's aim of getting all orchestrational with their indie-pop doesn't exactly read like the most groundbreaking thesis upon which to base a band in today's underground landscape. Like many other crowded-tour-bus acts, the more personnel-heavy tracks of The Orchestra, Sadly, Has Refused draw heavily upon the Spectorphonics of All Things Must Pass, right down to the George-esque slide guitar filling of "Goliath". Sprinkle in some Richard Wright "Us and Them"-style piano balladeering (there's even consecutive songs called "Time" and "Breathe") and you have an album that fits in quite well with the sensibilities of Pitchfork's recent best of the 70s list-- but made thirty years and hundreds of similar-sounding albums too late.
Unfortunately, the strings and horns rarely do much more than add a thin layer of dressing to the rather plain lettuce of the songs beneath. Silent League frontman Justin Russo is likable in songwriting and vocal regards, but the arrangements seem a far cry from a revolutionary new spin on the chamber-pop sound, and more like a lack of confidence manifesting itself in over-instrumentation. Accordingly, Russo-- who is occasionally joined here by Mercury Rev's Sean "Grasshopper" Mackowiack and Interpol's Sam Fogarino-- largely drops the orchestral concepts two songs in, and takes on a more stripped down piano-led band that is thoroughly and utterly uncontroversial. Songs like "Breathe" and "Linus" content themselves with no more garnish than the occasional vibes and guitar jangle, and succeed in a sort of mom-friendly Classics IV fashion.
Still, all things told it's hard to conjure up much active dislike for an album like The Orchestra, Sadly, Has Refused, as it commits no crime other than complaisance. On one hand, it's distressing to hear a new act pass Go and immediately jump to the "Conducted by Michael Kamen" stage, with little innovation to add to the field. But on the other hand, as the temples of the indie world continue to grey, it only makes sense that a demand for neutered soft-rock grows stronger. After all, indie kids will someday grow to become dentists, too, and they certainly can't play Fugazi in their waiting rooms.
