CASA - the contemporary a cappella society - CD Review: MIT Resonance's "Left On Red"

CD Review: MIT Resonance's "Left On Red"

Written by Sean Dargie

Tuesday, 31 January 2006

The title “Left on Red” evokes a sense of rebelliousness and drunk driving. However, with this recording, there’s more of a sense of being lost in a nice neighborhood and passing the same house over and over again than Cuervo-induced cruising.

That was a weird analogy, but stay with me. Every song on this album holds its own and is reminiscent of BOCA quality from a few years ago, but it is, in a word, formulaic. If I were to split this album up in a playlist, each track would shine, but a string of songs with similar tone, form, background texture, emotion and energy has a severe dulling effect on the overall sum.

Resonance relies heavily on their girls to create soaring and engaging lines while the boys provide support with less tumultuous ostinatos. Effects like distortion are subtle and help to accentuate the singers rather than shadow them. Duet-like harmonies also serve as a tasteful embellishment of the solo without stealing the spotlight. Soloists are very well selected and give sincere energy to each performance. But like I said earlier, it's all sort of the same energy.

I know it seems like I’m putting this album up on a pedestal just so I can shoot paintballs at it, but really the only fault of note is the group’s choice of repertoire. “Left on Red” would have been better served with either a more diverse selection of genres or a larger variety of grooves, tempos and moods within the same genre. However, while I hope that Resonance’s live shows don’t have the same sameness to them, they should feel proud about creating an otherwise enjoyable album. Next time maybe they’ll throw back a few more screwdrivers and drive a little more recklessly on the road to repertoire choices.

p.s. Drunk driving equals bad. Drunk recording equals fun for all. Remember to sing irresponsibly.