Reviews

You can find just about anything on the internet nowadays. There is a wealth of information about almost anyone you can find simply by typing their phone number, name, or home address into a search engine. My only question was: if my former room mate could find out my parents’ names, address, and an uncomfortable amount of information about me based on my phone number, why couldn’t I find any information about this band known as Inkwell?
 
This band was as cryptic about their personal information as the lyrics they wrote. The only information I could find on them was through their Myspace account and other than that I was shit out of luck. If I were to make a guess, I’d say this band only has two solid members, since the only press shot I could find is two guys in a parking lot, and they sign all the news on their website: “-Travis and Davey”. I finally got frustrated and went to One Eleven Records website.
 
I was surprised to find out most of the bio itself was about how they went about writing their bio. I had almost given up hope down to the very last sentence which reads: "We started this band to have fun, and we have accomplished that." (Of the little information I did find on Inkwell, they are from Winter Park, Florida. Now that we have all of their personal information covered…)
 
“One, two, one, two three, one, go, four, two,” Was the kickoff to Inkwell’s new full length, “These Stars Are Monsters,” with the track, “Just Take the Monkey and Leave.” The song was a perfect kickoff to the CD. It was upbeat and melodic, it made you smile but managed to put your mind at ease. It goes from upbeat power-pop to strings with low tone vocals over them, only to break back into the chorus of the song, which says, “We’re sorry, it’s just a joke/and I’m starting to get the punchline.
 
From here, the CD goes into a plethora of songs whose sound varies as much as the subject matter of the song titles. And with song titles like “Drop it,” (track 3) and “No, You Drop It” (track 4), how can you dislike a band like this (at least when your friends aren’t around, you punk rocker you)?      
 
It became obvious early that this isn’t a CD I could sit back and analyze or take notes on. This is an album based on emotion and all that surrounds the listening experience itself. It’s hard to describe what the guys were trying to do here besides what they had said, “…to have fun…” Their songs varied from drawn out indie ballads to up beat power pop and didn’t leave much to be desired from the listener. I could list any number influences and similiarities from Death Cab For Cutie to The Evan Anthem (mostly from the album “Prologue”.) To be honest with you it gave me a bit of nostalgia to old times with friends, almost a suitable soundtrack to anything.
 
The vocal harmonies are a bit haunting over palm muted guitar chords and sometimes even piano. It’s obvious these guys put some effort into this album, and it becomes even more apparent when you give a second listen and just admire the background instrumental parts. I enjoyed almost every part of this CD, beginning to end. Perhaps my only complaint is I got stuck on a couple tracks (“Just Take the Monkey and Leave” and “Pink? No No… What About Whimsical?”) which distracted me from the rest of the CD. Other than that, I liked it a lot and I give it four stars and I’m not ashamed to say so!