On their first full-length record since 1999, Matt Sharp returns with a new lineup of the Rentals that includes members of the Black Keys, Ozma and Lucius. Returning with a richer, heavier sound, Sharp has refocused his energy on The Rentals and it shows on this new collection of tracks. Many songs harken back to the band\u2019s heyday with rich synths and really great female harmonies.<\/p>\n
Songs like \u201cIt\u2019s Time To Come Home\u201d have that harsher sound than most people are probably not used to hearing from the Rentals, but that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s a bad track; au contraire! It\u2019s a new era for Sharp and company and it\u2019s a nice bridge from the past to the future. \u201cTraces Of Our Tears\u201d is a great trip down memory lane to the first album, full of synths and very poppy. There are definitely plenty of songs here that could be played on current pop radio and would fit right in with the Meghan Trainors of the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cStardust\u201d is another of those great pop songs of the 21st<\/sup> century that deserves to stand the rest of time. The new female singers, who are also the singers in Lucius, really help the song \u201cDamaris\u201d feel like an outtake from 1995\u2019s Return Of The Rentals<\/i>, which is the type of nostalgic trip you would hope an album like this would have.<\/p>\n \u201cIrrational Things\u201d is another sonic daydream through the Rentals of old; one really has to sit back and dig those great synthesizers. \u201cThought Of Sound\u201d has some great vocals from Mr. Sharp and brings the record full circle, back from 1995. There\u2019s not as much acoustic reflecting like the type heard on their sophomore record from 1999, but that\u2019s refreshing. It gives the songs a chance to be more pop-oriented and gives the record more of a happier tone.<\/p>\n The last couple of tracks aren\u2019t really that striking or very memorable, bar one: \u201cSeven Years\u201d does have some great synth work, reminiscent of 1995\u2019s \u201cWaiting.\u201d All in all, this album is a welcome return for a quirky band remembered for one of the most distinct records of the whole generic scene of mid \u201890s alt rock. Even though The Rentals were ahead of their time and are considered a one hit wonder, this record sounds really good and very, very retro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":32180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[9524],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-43932","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-rentals","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/43932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/43932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=43932"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=43932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}