Into It. Over It. – “52 Weeks”

Album Reviews | Oct 25th, 2009

Record Label: No Sleep Records
Genre: Indie
Band Link: www.intoitoverit.com
Buy on Amazon.com

Into It. Over It. is Evan Weiss of Damiera and Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start. The concept here is that Weiss wrote and recorded one song per week for 52 weeks.

It’s a neat idea and the output is impressive: these aren’t 45-second Dial-A-Song ditties, but earnest indie tunes. (Though I do wish Weiss shared some of TMBG’s pop sensibility and sense of fun.

The 52 tracks spanning the two discs seem to alternate between acoustic/lo-fi and garagey indie rock. Regardless of the rockitude, a sense of spacey sadsackery and whiny yearning permeates the two discs, making it all a very long and dense listen indeed.

Yet, for this kind of indie music, the quality hovers around average, often above, and Weiss completely avoids lazy filler. (If this were me, the weeks when I was on vacation or sick in bed or simply obsessed with a video game would have been memorialized with slapdash recordings of myself tuning instruments, hoping they come off as experimental.) While a little emo-y, the occasional glimpse of Elliott Smith influence adds some poetic weight.

Regardless of my disdain for all things emo, I have to give props for the lyrics. This might sound naïve since I’m not a musician, but I would imagine it’s easier to string along some guitar chords than to consistently write intelligent lyrics week after week. I should also point out that Weiss plays just about everything on here, proficiently if not flashily.

Fans of lo-fi indie will find something to enjoy here. But if you like huge volumes of indie rock with more variety and a toe-tapping beat, check out the extremely prolific Lifeguard Nights and Cavedoll.

Bottom Line: Full year chronicled in song without narcissism or laziness (or catchiness).
Notable Tracks: A Song About Your Party, Ashley’s Big Adventure
Overall Rating:

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