The Path of Least Resistance

Album Review

From time to time, one comes across an American band that sounds like it could be from the British Isles; the States are a perfect example. The alternative pop/rock/indie rock combo is based in Brooklyn, NY, but most of the influences that enrich their highly introspective, often melancholy sophomore album, The Path of Least Resistance, are non-U.S. influences — and those influences include bands from Ireland (U2), England (Coldplay, the Beatles, Suede, Radiohead) and Scotland (Travis). This 2006/2007 recording points to the fact that the Beatles are the pop/rock gift that keeps on giving; U2, Coldplay, Suede, Radiohead, and Travis were all influenced by the Fab Four, who broke up in 1970 but influence the States 36 or 37 years later on melodic offerings such as "All the Salt in the Sea," "Charm Offensive," "Be Good Tonight," and "Checkout." But admiring someone doesn't necessarily mean going out of one's way to emulate them, and while the States' admiration for the Beatles, U2, Coldplay, and Travis comes through, they still have an attractive sound of their own. For all their introspection, the States can be very sociopolitical at times — although not in a blunt or in-your-face way. While U2's political songs ("Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Bullet the Blue Sky," for example) have a lot of bite lyrically, the States are much more subtle when they address social or political topics. "New Land" is about working class people being priced out of urban neighborhoods by gentrification, while "The Architect" seems to question the neocons' disastrous attempts at nation-building. But because the States' more sociopolitical messages are delivered in so subtle a fashion, one has to pay very close attention to find them; they don't jump right out at you. The Path of Least Resistance is a solid sophomore effort from these Brooklyn residents.