My first thought was that this quartet hailed from the halls of the post-Radiohead British movement that has been infiltrating American music (and with good reason) for a while. Or maybe it's just that Holland is close enough that the influence makes sense. Falling on Deaf Ears is not a record that is original in its delivery, but its attention to texture will pull in even the skeptical. It differs in ways from typical Deep Elm releases. It won't have hanging over its head the "It's just another emo record" slogan. In fact, I'm guessing the word "emo" won't even surface unless some expectant Deep Elm fan puts the disc in and adds, "Hey, this isn't" in front. Pull out the U2, Radiohead, and Coldplay comparisons. Say that this is what would happen when Travis' Fran Healy, and Sixpence's Matt Slocum, got together to do a side project. But that aside, you will keep listening from the simple guitar/vocal intro until the orchestral fade out of the closing instrumental.
Editors' ratings - Doug 3/5, Jason 3/5
Other coverage for this album
Art for the Ears 2001Reviewed by Marco PovervestThis Beautiful Mess is the band previously known as Subatlantic Starfish, a band that released only a few songs on samplers from Sally Forth Records. Musically they've grown significantly since the first songs came out. Their music is dark emopop with beautiful soundscapes. There's a retrospective sound to the songs and mostly they're tranquil, relaxed. Sometimes there are postgrunge elements to…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Ken MuellerDespite the fact that there are still two months of music ahead of us before the end of the year, I am convinced that This Beautiful Mess will be right there in my list of top albums for the year. Hailing from Holland and released on Deep Elm Records, this band casts off the clichés of emo-dom and creates a fresh new sound grounded firmly in an indie-pop sensibility. Melodic and noisy at the same…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Alex KlagesThere are many ways to spend three-quarters of an hour. I can't think of many more gripping ways, emotionally, than listening to this disc through headphones, concentrating on the textures painted on the musical canvas. This Beautiful Mess is a Dutch group which has a deep art-rock sensibility to their type of guitar-based rock. It fits in much the same vein as Radiohead and Luxury, with maybe a…Similar sounding releases
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