Makeout Party

by Tom Mendelsohn

Emotional Softcore

"is its key attribute, really, and it does a little to make up for the grave lack of particular originality."

There’s a certain inevitability about Makeout Party. First of all, they’re called ‘Makeout party’. Second, they are from a place called Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Third, though they claim to be ‘indie’, they sound like an emo band recorded at about half speed and forgetting to rock. If nothing else, no one is going to suffer the shock of the new by coming into contact with the band.

Still, there’s obviously a big market for nasal-voiced, unchallenging ‘indie’, because bands of this type are resolutely everywhere, and growing. If we can’t beat them, then, we may as well evaluate them on their merits. Merits, we might add, that you’ll probably be surprised to hear Makeout Party have, after such an ambivalent introduction.

On the understanding that their debut album ‘Lengths And Limits’ is as comfortable as can be, it is pretty accomplished. Texture is its key attribute, really, and it does a little to make up for the grave lack of particular originality. Their sound is a warm, woozy one, and, like its name, the album seems to be an attempt to conjure a sense of pleasant teenage nostalgia. It does this pretty well, and while it lacks a little urgency, it does have genuine feeling to it. The mood is earnest all the way through, and it can get a bit saccharine, but we accept that this is probably the point.

The press release drops phrases like "touchstone of security", "comfortable blanket of nostalgia" and "heartfelt interpretations of sentimental encounters", which is probably enough to make the more sardonic of listeners among you hurl– suffice it to say that the raw heart-on-its-sleeve-ness of this album won’t agree with you.

Still, if you like your sentiment over-wrought and undiluted, and you don’t mind a bit of light emo here and there, you could do worse than Makeout Party.

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