The
3 stars
Philly, PA’s the Starting Line has had a tough go of it. When Geffen Records showed no interest in publicizing their 2005 disc (Based on a True Story), they moved to Virgin. Two years later, we have Direction, an up tempo, Emo-tinged disc that plays strongly to fans over the course of its 12 (13 via iTunes) tracks.
Kenny Vasoli’s voice sounds great singing these songs. The first single, Island, is a great song. The lyrics float lightly, and the beat thumps steadily. It will flow brilliantly from the open roof of your convertible as you wind down the PCH. It’s a song about getting away. What better summer album concept!
What You Want should be the second single, in my opinion. Thematically, the song speaks of wanting to make a difference, opening people’s eyes and changing their outlooks. The guitar work that begins the song is infectious and ties the whole song together. What You Want brings the album to a nice positive close.
The downtempo Need to Love stands out as well. Who hasn’t been lost in thought while traveling posing unasked questions to strangers? The pace of the song transports me to a different place which is exactly what good music should do.
The songs between feature solid performances, although get a bit repetitive lyrically. Several songs mention writing songs and explore problems that happen in that process. None of them are bad songs; they just indicate the importance songwriting had for TSL. It does get repetitive, which is something you don’t really want in an album. This might be might be attributed to an albumic theme, but for me, it doesn’t play as well.
Overall the album represents the band well. I do think Based on a True Story was a stronger album (and feel the bands pain at Geffen simply dumping it on the market). TSL kept it together though, and hopefully growth between this album and the next will knock it out of the park instead of this discs double.
Scale:
0. Shoot yourself
1. Poor
2. So-So
3. Good
4. Excellent
5. Instant classic