Switchfoot Cries 'Oh! Gravity.'

I'd done a post a while back on Switchfoot's "Oh! Gravity." after I'd heard the album at a listening party. It was half-assed (for obvious reasons), and so I was debating whether I wanted to review it after its release. I was leaning against it but Phil over at Switchfeed convinced me otherwise. Ergo (always wanted to use that word) here we are.

"Oh! Gravity." is Switchfoot's sixth studio album, and I honestly have to say their best. You can bitch and moan all you want, but that's how I feel (not that the others sucked, York!). "Nothing Is Sound" was the first album where I really started seeing something different in Switchfoot and I think it's probably because of what guitarist Drew Shirley brought to the table. Ever since he joined the band, things have picked up for the band for sure, and it has refined their sound tremendously. I would have to say that the production on that album has been a lot better as well. Pretty much since they've been on Columbia (again, for obvious reasons), their final sound quality has impacted much of their album.

Right from 'Oh! Gravity.', the album's first single, the vibe is set at a more upbeat album. "Nothing Is Sound" had continued in Switchfoot's power ballad format, what with 'Stars' et. al. Don't get me wrong though - I love that song as well as 'Happy Is A Yuppie Word' and others. But it was Shirley's guitarwork added another dimension, which led to more of the experimenting. I mean, just listen to the discordant piano a little past the beginning of the song. It's unique and gives you but a taste of what the album's to bring. The next song, American Dream, starts off with punk-ish guitars, and the lyrics follow suit in some regards. It's against the system, but this time it's the thinking of the people that Jon Foreman is going after:

When success is equated with excess,
The ambition for excess wrecks us,
As the top of the mind becomes the bottom line,
When success is equated with excess...

First of all, I have huge admiration for Foreman's rhyming skills in each verse of this song. He gets his point through, and beautifully so. The following tune, 'Dirty Second Hands' is a country tune. Just listen to it. Diversity is really what this album is all about, and all you need are the first three songs and you can lay the remaining to rest. However, we will move on. 'Awakening' starts of with Foreman's distant, reverbed screams that make me wish that the song would just loop right there. It has a very shoegazey feel up to the moment the drums come in. But that doesn't stop the song from being amazing. A couple tracks later, 'Amateur Lovers,' I found, is really beautifully written. Another one of Foreman's tracks where he dissects the human nature. This time around Dr. Foreman's assessment is as follows:

Every day we still try,
Every night we still cry,
Driving home on the 805

We don't know what we're doing,
We do it again,
We're just amateur lovers,
With amateur friends...

I have to give Foreman the props he deserves for his songwriting. It's clear, concise, and straight to the point (most of the time). Oh, and I like this song because I've driven on the 805. The album continues to go through a couple other decent songs including 'Head Over Heels (In This Life)' and 'Yesterdays'. '4:12' other than being 4 minutes and 12 seconds in length, is a nice upbeat track, leading into the closer 'Let Your Love Be Strong'. Beatles-esque vocals with a crisp acoustic guitar and gentle dronings of the electric serve as the perfect closure to the album.

I have to say that this album got a little sidetracked in my iPod with a bunch of other stuff that I got as of late, but it's still made its rounds. It definitely is a good album, and I'd recommend at least checking it out if not purchasing it. I've put a couple of the songs up. You can check out their myspace page for some others. Let me know your thoughts on the album.

Switchfoot - Amateur Lovers
Switchfoot - 4:12

Bonus: Switchfoot - Learning To Breathe

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