Tapes 'n Tapes - Outside

Let's start with the negatives and get those out of the way first. Tapes 'n Tapes haven't been as good as they were back in 2005 when their debut album was released, that's apparent. On The Loon, you can hear the energy of each song bursting at the seems, while the tunes on Outside tend to rely on sheer pep and less captivating melodies, something that made their second album Walk It Off so dull.

On the positive side, Outside is definitely a comeback from the sonically empty Walk It Off. The songs also vary much more making it a diverse album. The melodies might not be brilliant, but there's something about many of the songs here that makes me want to listen to them over and over again, namely the opener Badaboom, One In The World, Nightfall, Freak Out, The Saddest of All Keys, and Hidee Ho, which rolls along slowly at the start, but toward the end, picks itself up and socks you in the face with searing guitars and shouty vocals.

Some other songs feel a little too loose and lack drive, like Desert Plain, SWM, and a couple tracks toward the end, but Outside has enough juicy guitar licks and energetic vocals to satisfy anyone. Early Tapes fans might complain that this record doesn't have the originality and raw charm that The Loon had, but in my opinion, it only gained what it lost on their last album.




Tracklist:
01. Badaboom
02. SWM
03. One In The World
04. Nightfall
05. Desert Plane
06. Outro
07. Freak Out
08. The Saddest Of All Keys
09. Hidee Ho
10. People You Know
11. On And On
12. Mighty Long

-Julian