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our fight
album review
by jon bosworth
jaxvillain@yahoo.com


Artist:
Spacebar

Title:
Our Fight

Release Date:
3.2007

Label:
12:24 Records


      When Tower to Cessna was playing live shows in Jacksonville back in the late 90s, they were reminiscent of Sonic Youth and Pavement presenting songs rich with an articulate sense of humor. Since those days, Art and Jimmy have moved to Orlando and struck out in a quest to make their living as a successful rock and roll band. They chose the name Spacebar and they have evolved drastically over the last five years, even though many of their songs are the same ones I heard them play several years ago.

      On Our Fight they have made a distinctive effort to create a well-produced rock album that incorporates an electronic sound. They will tell you first-hand that their objective is to create music that people can dance to at clubs, but to be perfectly honest, I do not know what sort of dance clubs play this music.

      Spacebar has diverged starkly from the indie rock inspiration of their beginnings and they have come to sound more like Motion City Soundtrack mixed with Less Than Jake. Their radio-ready new rock is underscored with attempts at Postal Service with the incorporation of an electronica element. Some superfan at the show told me that Spacebar has the professionalism needed to make it, but the last time I checked, people bought records because the music was outstanding.

      To be sure, the production on this album is well above the par of an average debut album, and they even included a supplemental CD filled with electronic remixes of their songs, but that still can’t save these homogenized ditties from sounding like tired gestures void of singable hooks. If you absolutely adore everything that comes on Planet Radio, this might be a great find for you, but you will want to immediately discard the supplemental CD. If you are looking for new music that breaks new ground and makes you want to dance, I would look to Laserstar before I’d worry about Spacebar.

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