While many bands choose to pull the wool over your eyes by polishing up their debut album until it shines so bright you can’t see the fundamental flaws, Surrogate decided to steer clear of ostentatious ingredients. Their debut album, Love Is For The Rich, is a lo-fi ensemble that is bristled enough to counterbalance Keene’s unsullied voice. Surrogate’s music is charmingly calm and collected without being uptight.
Love Is For The Rich is a delicately spun web of unobtrusive lyrics and humbled confidence…Charlotte would be proud. Gentle percussions do some heavy lifting as they control the pace and add diversity to an album that could have been a complete flatline. Surrogate created songs people can relax with, move to, break-up to and make-up to, all while keeping their foundation in tact and without venturing too far off the reservation. This album definitely has the potential to drive its listener into a peacefully woozy haze where drifting off into a stare and intent listening become one in the same. Not every track on Love Is For The Rich is completely memorable but there are enough high points to make a base jumper happy. After this album takes a few laps in your stereo, beautiful little touches that might have been initially overlooked will start to stick out like a sore thumb. Stand Out Tracks: 15, Upsidedown Pictures, Photographic Memory
Note: Surrogate’s album, “Love Is For The Rich,” will be released on August 28th.
