Essence of Mind's electro-rock Try and Fail is riddled with teenage angst, relationships issues and break-ups. The album never strays far from these issues for long and gets tedious fast. Great in bits and pieces with a solid sound throughout; this is a mood based album especially good for those suffering from a traumatic recent break up and needing a good old-fashioned vent. With a strong rooting in pop rock with a slight synth bent these tracks could be used to break up more hardcore play lists or infuse a bit of diversity within any music diet.
Try And Fail is divided into a fast first half and a slower mellower second half. In the second half often sounds whiny and doesn't have the same punch, attitude or catchiness of the first half, coming across as underpowered and tacked on.
The catchy pop rock guitar riffs and synthesizers awaken a sort of perverse vicarious nostalgia for an emotionally charged and turbulent teenage period I never really had. It seems a sort of right of passage to have intense and traumatic relationships full of stupidity, innuendo and pop rock - something I never really had for better or worse.
Another shortcoming of Try and Fail is the lead singer's very samey vocals throughout the album, if the lyrics don't get to you first it will be the vocals that ultimately make for a tedious album experience. If you are the sort of person who prefers to listen to custom play lists instead of albums, you many never have this issue but after forcing to hear the whole album through a couple of times I quite wanted to tear my ears off. It isn't just the vocals either it is also the arrangement of instruments and inexorably consistent style.
Try And Fail has its good and bad but it shouldn't displease fans of Essence of Mind's Watch Out EP and could indeed poach fans of similar music from the mainstream.
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