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Keep No Score seems to be a very good album released at the wrong time. I could be wrong, but the intelligent, College rock on display here seems to have gone by the wayside recently in favor of Pop-punk sounds and Brit-pop piano bands.  Sleeping At Last deserves better treatment than local obscurity & I hope many fans of Switchfoot, REM, and Travis will give a closer listen.

Musically, the band stretches their sound beyond what we heard on previous major release, Ghosts.  Keep No Score adds more vibrant string arrangements and allows each instrument to stand out on their own.  All of the music acts as a proper support for the fragile tenor of lead singer Ryan O’Neal.  His voice falls somewhere in the vicinity of Jars of Clay’s Dan Heseltine, never feeling quite comfortable in its own sound, but allowing the emotions to be up-front and center in the delivery.

“Needle & Thread” stands out in its organic simplicity & sense of quiet.  The following track, “Envelope,” with its battered drums & striking minor-chords on guitar creates a different, yet flavorful, sound, demonstrating that this band doesn’t just rely on O’Neal’s voice.  Each member plays an equal part in creating the band’s striking sounds.

In stretching their sound, a few tracks (“Hold Still,” “Sing to Me”) sound a little too tied to the post-Radiohead sounds emerging from Britain.   Also, a few too many songs have a slower beat, leading to an overarching sense of melancholy to the disc.  But, don’t let that scare you away.  Keep no Score is definitely recommended for those of you that want to hear some strong, downbeat College rock.

By Jonathan Nelson
9-9-6