CURIOUS THINGS

Tinyfish is a relatively new prog rock band band from the UK. With the current release of (currently) two actual studio albums, and then... this..., they have been quite successful in putting themselves on the radar of the pop/prog scene. The music is a fusion of pop/rock, hard rock, and a light spritz of musical experimentation that we here like to call prog. On this album, the music is mostly this pop fusion, with a very electronic acoustic hip hop feel to it, rather than anything I really like. The album really isn't a studio album at all, having only 7 tracks and running less than 30 minutes. At first I was excited seeing only 7 tracks, for I was expecting some lengthy composition to polish off the play time, but I was rather disappointed. It seems that Tinyfish is good at making tiny(not so good)albums.

The June Jar is a simple pop rock song, with some catchy vocal melodies and some simple chord progressions and watered down rhythms. I wouldn't be surprised if I heard something similar to this on the local pop station or at a high school dance. Some hip hop beats and electronic sounds back the album and fill in all the cracks the acoustic guitar chords make. The song, overall, isn't really a strong opener, unless you're looking at this as a pop album.

Ack Ack is a useless 20 second track of some people making small talk. I mean seriously, why would you put this on an album?

She's all I Want is another pop rock song. Look at the title, and you can see why. This is an acoustic/hip hop/electronic "love" song. Now trying to make money in the music business is perfectly fine, but don't try to convince me that rubbish like this is prog in the least sense.

Driving All Night is a much needed break in the sequence. The song still has a huge pop rock feel, but the music is a little hip hoppy and a little more compassionate and emotional. It's still acoustic and rather boring, but has a slightly more creative and proggish twinge to it.

Why VHF? is actually a rather good track. Now it has some of the most prominent hip hop beats to it, but it also some of the most obvious prog influence to it. Clocking in at an amazing 8 minutes (gasp), the album is the longest on the album and has only a minor reason to be so. Although the lyrics really don't vary from "Why vhf? Tell me why vhf?" for around 6 minutes of the song, some interesting instrumentation and some creative guitar chords used. Overall it isn't the best track, but holds the album up.

Wrecking Ball is a whiny love ballad with some highly cheesy lyrics like "I loved you before you loved me" and "I kissed you before you kissed me" that really can make a real prog love cringe. The music is uncreative and atypical of all pop music on pop stations these days: Acoustic guitar chords, tambourine, and cheesy lyrics. Even when it breaks into some more rocking music, it's poppy, cheesy, and just plain old bad.

Cinnamon is, sadly, another pop rock song to end the album. It has the most electronic beats going for it. Some of the song does have an experimental feel and some interesting chord progressions, but overall it still boils down to sugary pop music. Some quasi- interesting interesting instrumentation makes the song almost interesting, but it's still the same thing repeating for 6 minutes.

ALBUM OVERALL: This is the true definition of pop/prog, but take out the prog. To call it prog would be extremely drawn out and almost a preposterous statement, and the same thing goes for calling this an LP. Most albums in the age of vinyl ran longer than this. The music is really just pop/rock with a slight twinge of experimentation in Why VHF?, which is weak anyway. Overall, a very weak album with barely prog twinge in it, even by Crossover standards. 1 star.

Share this TINYFISH review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Andy Webb
• Report this review (#376541)
• Buy TINYFISH music online with PA partners
• Show all TINYFISH MP3/Stream
• Go to TINYFISH page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Curious Things page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for TINYFISH related discussions