Say what you will about emo music and its bloated subgenres, no other musical style seems to be as successful at storytelling. Records that fall into this world and have this raw energy behind their narratives and no-one has harnessed said energy as well as Proper. The East Coast Alternative act had already created an identity for themselves on their previous two albums. But here, on ‘The Great American Novel’, they’ve sharpened their sound with this tale that chronicles the realities of living in Modern Day America – and with a title like that, you can’t expect anything less than a truly epic offering.
The album features commentary on how The misguided American Dream is dead, the music industry, label deals and even ancient mythology. But at the same time, ‘Shuck and Jive’ comes in to confirm we’re listening to be the band’s most Rock-leaning record to date. With riffs that are truly worthy of being called epic alongside Proper’s almost signature rhythmic singing style, Proper.’s evolution over the last three years is immediately evident. As you listen on, you’ll find yourself mesmerised by the stories the album has to offer; half of the time coming with subtle metaphors, and the other half removing the veil to tell us how it really is.
Proper. have alway stood out with their strong lyrics. But, in previous outings from the band, slightly muddy mixing would quite literally put a damper on things. Now though songs like ‘Ganymede’ or ‘In The Van Somewhere Outside of Birmingham’ shows how far they’ve come, with sharper guitars and more conviction in their performance from start to finish. Production seems to have been turned up to eleven on this album and it provides the perfect bed for the band’s musicianship – if anything, it highlights it.
Highlights come in the form tongue-in-cheek similes on ‘Jean’, almost Slipknot-like rifts on ‘McConnell’ while ‘Americana’ closes the record in a perfectly conclusive way ‘Juvie’ gives us those classic Midwest emo Vocals, which could be interpreted as indicative of the lead singer’s exhaustion of The American Dream. It’s at this point in the record you start to consider whether the band have overshot things a bit and if it’s slightly over-produced. But at the very least, the track does a good job of fitting in thematically with the album’s storytelling.
Proper. aren’t the first band to deconstruct The American Dream and its ideals in the form of an album epic. The difference is their approach is so totally uncompromising in tackling the issues that affect them as Americans and channelling it as musicians; and while their ambitions may have had them flying a bit too close to the sun at times, it ultimately results in ‘The Great American Novel’ being Proper.’s most bold, fearless and authentic outing to date.
8/10
Words: Sarah Shodipe
– – –
[embedded content]
– – –
