Here Come The Runts- AWOLNATION Review

AWOLNATION have undergone a major change, in both lineup (the entirety of IRONTOM, a folk rock band replaced part of the old band) and sound, orienting towards a more natural and folksy sound rather than an electronic and techno sound. The first single for this album was Passion, an excellent rock anthem; the second the boring Seven Sticks of Dynamite; the third the fast, loud and eclectic but good Miracle Man; and the fourth and promotional single Handyman, a very folksy, yearning tune. So here's the album - what'll it be like?


The album starts with the title track, a blaring electropop with a driving drumbeat and various instruments and time signatures weaving throughout it's eclectic tapestry, kind of a manifesto on what the whole album's about. Passion blasts some great, well crafted music out to the world, with Sound Witness System, an out of the blue rap that acts as a sort of outro. Miracle Man and Handyman serve as a bastion of two good, recognizable songs, the first fast and loud and the second more laid back. Jealous Buffoon acts as a great, funky almost Arctic Monkeys counterbalance to the mediocre Seven Sticks Of Dynamite, and underdeveloped song. Table For One, Molasses and Cannonball are all on the moderate end for speed and volume, and are pretty laid back and equally good. Tall, Tall, Tale and The Buffoon are both pretty electronic with lots of keyboard, the latter lacking any words whatsoever. Stop That Train ends the album as a kind of six minute summary of the album, going through many varied and well put together phases. All of it is really good, just kind of randomly fitted together.

This raises the idea of the whole album: it's certainly more natural than their previous albums and the individual parts are good, but the whole doesn't work so well. It doesn't really have highs and lows as stay in that mediocre zone, not entirely switching to the new sound but not leaving the old behind. Hopefully their next album will be a more comprehensive package, and I hope Aaron Bruno finds a consistent and good singing style, too. Anyways, I'm going to their concert later this month, so they should put on a good show, with some great opening acts to boot.