Insight & Critique
  • DAC
  • Indie Music Album Reviews
  • About
  • Submissions
  • Top albums
  • Features
  • Contact

Treasure Town -Awaken

5/26/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Treasure Town

Awaken
self-released; 2017

​3.5 out of 5

By Dan Weston

Here’s a quick tip. If you self produce your own album with a laptop, an audio interface, a couple of sm57s and no to little production experience you're not going to have the audio fidelity of a Radiohead album. The majority of DIY albums sound like demos and it's better to undersell than oversell. Don’t say you sound like a mixture of The Strokes and Flying Lotus because you will skyrocket people's expectations.

I appreciated some of the blunt honesty on the Bandcamp page for Awaken by Treasure Town. They mention how the album was never properly mixed, the recording wasn’t that great, etc. and I appreciated them being upfront. There was something charming about that.


Awaken is far from perfect in the production department. That being said the band showcases a good amount of talent with fairly stylistically scattered songs. The best thing the duo has going for them is the music in general feels uninfluenced by one particular band or genre. 

The band opens with “Ocean” which has a singer/songwriter, even a reggae, vibe that meshes with more modern sounding aesthetics. It’s a pretty catchy song but the song was so soft and really needed at least a halfway decent mastering job. “The World Will End in Rainbows” was a highlight. I enjoyed the momentum that mixed with the melancholy on this song. The vocal performance was good and the first three minutes worked wonderfully. Once the distortion is introduced the lo-fi quality of the recording starts to make the song buckle.

“Aquarium” has tender, warm moments as well as harsh almost indignant ones. I preferred the subdued vocals over the nasally pop punk inflection that arises when the song gets intense. Kudos for the band attempting something so dynamic and contrasting but the juxtaposition felt a little abrupt. 

The next highlight is the closer “Future...? (Future).” It’s the most intense song with some of the catchiest vocals. The song showcases some innovative ideas. I like where their head was at with this song. 

If the band is to continue to self-produce the best advice I can give them in the production department is to learn how to use a limiter to increase the volume as well as make the volume consistent song to song. Most DAWs come equipped with a stock limiter which will the do the job just fine. 

​Treasure Town is a duo with a good amount of potential. There is plenty of tweaking exploration and evolution to be had but that's what the artistic process is all about.
Tweet
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

       Critique/insight

    We are dedicated to informing the public about the different types of independent  music that is available for your listening pleasure as well as giving the artist a professional critique from a seasoned music geek. We critique a wide variety of niche genres like experimental, IDM, electronic, ambient, shoegaze and much more.

    Tweets by divideanconqer
    Are you one of our faithful visitors who enjoys our website? Like us on Facebook


    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

Company

About
Contributors

Newsletter

Newsletter
Book Your Band

© Divide and Conquer 2021. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • DAC
  • Indie Music Album Reviews
  • About
  • Submissions
  • Top albums
  • Features
  • Contact