TEAM ME

I had quite a surprise when I saw TEAM ME in Progarchives, since I have never thought this band could be labeled as prog, but then again, I haven't been around the archives for about two years so who am I to judge what is prog or not (based on the site definition). Being that said, Blind as Night is a really nice album and differs itself from its predecessor in terms of complexity, songwriting and arrangements. Rather than a whole different animal, this album feels like a more intriguing, playful and experimental version of the band we met in "To the Treetops!", their first record. The opening track is "Riding My Bicycle (From Freddersensgate 5A to Møllerveien 31)", a 8 minutes song with a simple but really effective structure. A dramatic instrumental intro and outro with a nice build up wrap this kinda, standard indie-rock section loaded with tons of orchestration, vocal lines and a infectiously-groovy fuzzy synthesiser riff. You're probably going to get a general idea of what the band is capable in terms of musicianship and how the intensities throughout the rest of the album will be displayed, out of this track. However, don't expect every song to be like this. The next track "Kick & Curse", probably one of the most catchy songs in the album, has a nice beat and a little interlude with pizzicato strings, which leads to the typical version of a quieter Chorus just to kick back in full strength. Almost every melody in the album is really catchy and popish, which could be a deal-breaker for some listeners I think, and at first it's easy to sleep on some details and neat instrumentation just because of the overall catchiness of the songs. "Man Eating Machine", my personal favourite, is a standout on its own. The intensity builds up nicely and despite its simple structure, these guys know how to get to that climax and work with different nuances, subtle changes and dynamics overall. Orchestration is on point too. You can actually see these guys have a lot of different influences and there is no restriction in terms of songwriting from Marius Drogsås, the lead singer and composer for the band. "F is for Faker", another popish and catchy tune follows the cathartical "Man Eating Machine". Sadly, the rest of the album after this track, uhhm, sounds a little bit uninspired, compared to first four songs, and specially after you hear what the band is capable of in the album opener and in track 3. You'll get your share of well executed indie songs, with the obligatory string arrangements and crowded vocal lines. And I think this is a problem too, cause there's always like two levels of intensity and that's all. It reminds me a little bit of what I like to call the Anekdoten syndrome. As erik neuteboom's review of the album Vemod says: "The strong point in the music from Anekdoten is the hugh tension between the mellow, often melancholical climates and the dynamic parts delivering Fripp-inspired howing electric guitar, an agressive bass and splendid drumwork...". Yes, it is a strength but after a while it gets repetitive cause they couldn't do anything but that, and after exploiting a musical resource for too long, it just gets old and there's no more appeal in it. "Are You Still in Love" features some interesting changes in harmony and playful verse lines between the male and female singer. "Steven" is some kind of hymn, it is good but nothing remarkable. "Blind as Night", the closing track is a really nice change of pace, and rounds up the album pretty well, which for a 45 minutes record, feels extremely short. If you listen to this album expecting some wonderful and groundbreaking avant-gardish ideas, then you're wasting your time. That's why I think Team Me is not a prog band, nor any of their albums is progressive rock. Team Me is a really good indie band with a lot of influences, great musicianship, not afraid to break out the mould, great songwriting and a bright future. If you like music overall, and specially indie music, you'll have a thrill with this record. If you are a diehard prog head, don't waste your time, this is not you cup of tea. I'd give this album 4 out of 5 stars, but since the ratings are related in terms of "progness", we'll give it just 3.