Send "Amusement Parks on Fire " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Tinymixtapes |
 In evolutionary biology, a new species is produced when an animal population becomes so isolated it can no longer reproduce with its own kind. In music, the taxonomy is largely descriptive — music is part of a genre if it exhibits the characteristics of that genre. So it’s difficult to take lead singer Michael Feerick seriously when he coins a new term, “stargaze,” to describe his music. Not just because shoegaze has long been peppered with cosmological ideas, but because on Road Eyes, Amusement Parks on Fire walks too much like the same old duck to deserve separate taxonomy.In contrast to their first two albums, production duties have been shifted outside the band to Michael Patterson, producer of Beck’s Midnight Vultures, and Nic Jodoin of The Morlocks. The hired guns have ensured that the song lengths are shorter and the songs themselves are more direct than previous efforts. “Water from the Sun” is one of the better moments, largely because its slower 3/4 tempo gives the song some breathing space. All cylinders are firing, with ethereal choirs joining chunky riffs before obligatorily dissolving into two minutes of nicely-textured noise. There’s much to like here if you’re not finished kicking at that particular open door. But while there are excellent moments on Road Eyes, you’ll often find them pushed to the margins. “Wave of the Future” begins with a massive, steadily-pulsing texture for roughly the first 20 seconds before dropping the beat to reveal a much less worthwhile song. On “Inside Out,” a syncopated guitar line collides with a chiming piano, obscuring the beat to charming effect. But again, bombast prevails over invention, and the song struggles to escape from under volleys of tom rolls and mammoth guitar chords....full text |
| Eburban |
| The relatively niche genre of shoegaze music, when done correctly, can be beautiful and dreamy, languid and grandiose, and very easy to lose yourself in. When done incorrectly it sounds whiney and dull, pretentious and bloated, and can lead to anger in listeners. Amusement Parks On Fire unfortunately lean towards the latter description more than they do the former. The fault comes from attempting to streamline a sound that should only exist on the fringes of music, there for those who know where to look for it, unfettered by the majority of pop music. So this is why Road Eyes, the band’s third full length record on as many labels, sounds confused when it tries to make straight forward rock songs with highly distorted guitars, dreary vocal melodies, slow tempos and swirling strings. If you took the alternative rock sensibilities of Nada Surf and piled Sigur Rós at their artiest on top of them then this record could well be the result. As interesting as that sounds on paper it’s not a super group that anybody asked for, or that anybody needs. The record is not without its high points – “Road Eyes” is a good introduction to the sound of the record, the coda of “Inside Out” is quite lovely, all swooning strings and emotive singing, and album closer “Inspects The Evil Side” is requisitely epic – but unfortunately they are few and far between and somewhat marred by tracks like “Raphael” and “Wave Of The Future” which plod along doing not much at all....full text |
| Reviewrinserepeat |
| At roughly seventeen seconds into album number three, Nottingham’s resident adept shoe-gazers Amusement Parks On Fire leave behind the defining bedroom pop of their self-titled debut and the spacey rock of follow-up Out Of The Angeles instead preferring to hit straight for the gut. Album opener and namesake “Road Eyes” erupts from a dwindling rumble of keys and near vacant backing chants to a high-flying, riff heavy, hook filled monster of a song. Now attaching themselves less to the likes of My Bloody Valentine and Dinosaur Jr. and more to a fat-free brand of dream-pop a la Chapterhouse or Lush with a distinct desire for the stadium. With Road Eyes, the quintet looks to soar and really, suffers from little turbulence. While there is much debate as to whether indie rock is and-or is not meant for the big stages, dream pop is one of the few facets that has never really been concerned with giving in to its own precariously grandiose nature. And while it is and always will be a headphone’s genre first and foremost, Road Eyes is another in a long line of drum driven, pop-centric reverb records that are as apt to get you on your feet as they are to demand close attention one on one. Granted it is certainly not a new take on things (Astro Coast just came out this year) and it has been done better (Chapterhouse’s Whirpool) there is still something to be said for how confidently Michael Feerick and co. re-imagine the heyday of 90s British shoegaze. Furthermore how well they meld it with 60s Mod-rock, chamber pop and buzzy post-rock to form an entirely different record from what they’ve produced previously. Oh and it is catchy as hell. For all of its pleasant melodies (“Inside Out”), raucous guitars (“Wave Of The Future”) and wonderful climaxes (“Inspects The Evil Side” and “Water From The Sun,”) Road Eyes is a bit plagued at times. Though its ailment is one of tricky coincidence. That same bombastic stadium anthem quality the majority of the tracks possess is all at once extremely uplifting and undeniably exhausting. Not to mention that if you stop paying attention you may lose track of which song it is you’re hearing, as APoF’s whole shtick is essentially a very calculated, well performed homage. If you've had several experiences with their forbears, you’ll know exactly what is bound to happen here. Albeit with a few more string quartets, proggy drum fills and discernable choruses than usual; it is still hard to take Road Eyes as a whole and after repeated spins it begins to lose its original luster. But like many of their peers, Amusement Parks On Fire do not seem to be pushing the boundaries of their desired genre, as much as attempting to recreate its golden age. In that respect, few do it better than these five Brits and Road Eyes is a resoundingly appealing listen even though at times bit derivative....full text |
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