popwreckoning updates

Posted: 01 Feb 2009 10:15 AM CST

Readymade Breakup’s Alive on the Vine has a diverse range of instrumentation and lyrical elements, but in the grand scheme is a heavily Americana-influenced album. With their folksy riffs and vocal hand offs, they remind me a lot of Austin darlings Band of Heathens.

These New Jersey boys experiment with lots of styles on this album, but they really shine when they are jamming away on jazzy riffs on bass by Gay Elvis or upbeat tempos led by Spicy O’Neil on drums. Vocalist Paul Rosevear, however, was at his best on poppier numbers like “Surrender” than on those folksy tracks like “Honey, You Might Be Right”. Rosevear, while a decent singer, left me perplexed. He would sometimes channel Freddie Mercury and experiment with some falsetto and other times he’d throw in these strange soulful yelps. After listening to the album, I’m not convinced he’s quite figured out his sound yet.

So because of these strange scream-folk-yelps, I was left disappointed in what should have been phenomenal tracks like the Beatles-esque “Stretch Your Hand”. Ironically, it was a song named “Ugly” that I found the most appealing on the album, thanks to the drum rolls and rhythmic breaks of O’Neil. A poppier number than most on the album, but quite enjoyable.

Tracklisting:
01. One by One
02. Honey, You Might Be Right
03. Talking to Myself
04. Surrender
05. I Don’t Mind
06. Stretch Your Hand
07. See You Sad
08. Quiet
09. Ugly
10. Back to the Bubble

Readymade Breakup: website | myspace

Written by: Bethany