The Only Children

Item: Change of Living
Author: Mike Leech

Change of Living

(2004)

Reviewed by Mike Leech

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Label Glurp RecordsDecapolisDecember 2004

alternative country indie rock roots rock

The Only Children materialized last year from the tear-muddied ashes of Kansas-based emo rockers, The Anniversary. That fairly celebrated outfit carved a pretty decent career out of making kids in cardigans dance and cry, but I wouldn't go expecting melancholy power ballads from this new incarnation if I were you. Change of Living is a good old fashioned, emotionally stable hybrid of alt. country dabbling and Southern blues rocking.

Fans of early Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young will no doubt find more than a track or two to their liking, especially if they start out with the album's opener, "Sky Begins to Storm" (which would make the most chronological sense anyway). Easily the most memorable track on the record, the song's whiskey-drenched melody and twangy, barroom choir call to mind a number of crossover country hits from the seventies. I even checked to make sure it wasn't a cover of some old Southern ditty that I couldn't remember, but to their worthy credit, this was not the case.

The remainder of Change of Living suffers from an inability to recreate the brilliant and seemingly effortless glow of its first track. Songs like "West Virginia" and "The Circle Will Not be Broken" come close but just taste like they could use a little more sugar or something. Possibly salt. I don't know what that means really, but I do know that the album also loses a little steam in its second half. By the time it reaches a conclusion, it kinda just stops. Though the record is blessed with an initial wealth of promise and potential, its ending unfortunately feels a bit sudden and unresolved.

But hey, there's always next time. And until then, The Only Children should be proud. They've recorded a noteworthy debut where the good really does outweigh the bland.

2.5/4