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4 Bonjour Parties

Pigments Drift Down to the Brook

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Review Date: 2008-07-13

Pigments Drift Down to the Brook

‘Pigments Drift Down to the Brook’ is 4 Bonjour’s Parties’ first full-length album after releasing five independent EPs. The Tokyo 7 piece focuses on a combination of ambient soundscapes, sixties pop and lush orchestration.  Incorporating a variety of instruments and leaning on a great many musical genres, they attempt to combine the experience of five EPs into one package and take the listener on a dreamlike journey.  Sounds interesting, right?  Well, it isn’t.  The songs come and go without much notice, bleeding together with all the flavour of a raw potato.  Bland, safe and uninspired.

Indie rock seems to be overwrought with large bands these days – to a point where a 5 piece seems minimal.  It appears that many of these bigger bands try to compensate for a lack of songwriting talent by adding more musicians and using somewhat unconventional instruments.  Less is more, kids.  I would rather watch one person play a song with some meaning than watch eight jerks shaking tribal instruments at me, while trying to work a theramin.  Unfortunately, more often than not, when you have this many people in one outfit, it tends to lack a singular vision.  Instead of doing what is right for the piece, they start worrying about how they can work in Hans and his Tuba, or whatever.

In all fairness, 4BP aren’t incapable musicians, they just meander into banality.  The songs are over long and ironically, contain zero dynamics.  No bridge (for the most part), no recognizable chorus and no hook.  Trying to get through this album in one go is seriously taxing.

Maybe it’s me.  Maybe I just don’t get it.  Maybe you’ll love it and it will inspire you to go back to school or write that book.  Or maybe, this album will be doomed to play in the background of trendy martini bars by people who like to say that they listen to a Japanese band.

Score: 4

- Greg Legros