Sun Kil Moon - April

2.5/5

Its great that Kozelek has found his signature sound, but don't you wish that he'd write just one song that doesn't sound like every other song he's ever written, which all sound kinda like Neil Young on muscle relaxers? The songs here are long and that's magnified by the fact that all the songs sound so similar that the album plays like one really long song. While everything here, standing by itself, is hauntingly pretty, it gets monotonous very fast.

The guitar work here is solid, but not memorable at all. The lyrics are fine, but you find yourself quickly ignorning them. Kozalelek's voice is soothing, but it serves more to put you to sleep than anything else. Normally I comment on specific songs, but nothing here is any different thanything else, so why bother? Its all pretty, in a stark sort of way, so if that's your thing, just listen to the album and maybe download a couple of songs. Picking one song as the standout is just impossible, it would be sort of eating 50 blue m&m's and trying to say which was the best. They were all kind of good, they all tasted exactly alike and you were sick of them by the end.

This album is great to study to, because it just turns into background music very fast. And that is all it is, really really great background music. I could easily see this being in the background of some indie film. But is it "real" music in any sense? No, not really. I can see myself coming home moderately intoxicated after having struck out with some girl and putting this album on to go to sleep to. And that's just not real music.