The Whispertown 2000

Swim

Acony

Nov 01, 2008 Year End 2008 - Best of 2008 By Jim Scott Bookmark and Share

Songwriter Morgan Nagler is the real deal. She has earned the praise of her friend Jenny Lewis, among others, for the bittersweet lyrics that are on full display in Swim’s eleven tales of alternating hope and heartbreak. On the standout “No Dope,” Nagler laments, “No dope, no pill, no drink can fill, can tow this ton of tears.” And no matter where she takes the listener, they never feel the weight of those tears completely drop away.

Musically, The Whispertown 2000 doesn’t hold up its end of the bargain (this is an admittedly difficult task). There’s not a song that sticks around once it’s gone. The instrumentation ranges from the uninspired (like the stark piano on “Atlantis”) to the sore thumb oddity of the Led Zeppelin stomp of “Ebb and Flow.” There’s surely a middle ground between the two for the songs that require more than the simple arrangement of “No Dope.” “Done With Love,” a laconic fuzz-guitar treat, gives hope that The Whispertown 2000 will strike the balance that brings Nagler’s stories to life. (www.myspace.com/whispertown2000)

Author rating: 6/10

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