Artist: Slow Runner  
Album: No Disassemble       
Label: Red Ink
Tracks: 12
Length: 39:15
Review by: Luke Kruse

 

I feel sorry for bands like Slow Runner.  I am sure the guys in the band all put their whole heart into the twelve tracks that appear on their debut album, No Disassemble; however, that does not mean that this album will have much of a chance of being remembered among the overabundance of pop/rock indie bands that release an album in 2006.  The requisite band bio describes the groups sound as, “lyrical pop music shot out into space,” but unfortunately the band never quite seems to smash any of these songs out into orbit.

 

Songwriter Michael Flynn writes his music in a style clearly influenced by the two most popular “Bens” in the college rock scene: Ben Gibbard and Ben Folds.  Following the short intro is lead single “Break Your Mama’s Back,” a fun rocker with a cheesy synth line.  The next track is a ballad that bears a melody line striking similar to “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”  These two songs set a pattern, as most of these songs have a layered guitar riff/piano line that is sung over with lyrics touching mainly on relationships and growing up, sometimes offering vague advice like, “The sea, my friends, is never full.”  Several electronic flourishes are added in, but never lay the foundation of the songs.  The best song on the album is the upbeat piano-driven, “You’re in Luck,” a great sing-a-long that harkens back to the days before Ben Folds became boring.  The band closes the album with a pair of ballads, one of which is strikingly similar to Death Cab for Cutie’s “Transatlanticism,” complete with a repeated closing line over sparse and wistful instrumentation.

 

No Disassemble is a highly listenable album, one that I would think few would find objectionable.  Unfortunately, “listenable” does not equal excellence.  Another tidbit found in the band bio is that songwriter Michael Flynn placed second in the prestigious John Lennon Songwriters Contest.  Second place is exactly what Slow Runner finds themselves in on their debut.  They just do not quite have the “it” factor to move them ahead of their peers.