Pomegranates - Everything is Alive
 

Listening to this debut album from Pomegranates it’s almost impossible to imagine it was recorded and mixed in the grand sum of six days. With the majority of tracks having been recorded live, the overall quality of sound and feel of the songs is incredibly accomplished. Pomegranates offer a straightforward indie-pop approach to their music, it’s simple and easy to listen to, the melodies are infectious and for reasons beyond your direct understanding you could spend hours listening to this album over and over again.

In a little over thirty minutes they offer much more than a lot of bands will offer in a lifetime. It’s hard to believe this is their debut album, the intellect in the songwriting defies their limited time together. The vocals of front man Joey Cook are at times dreamy, the beautiful ‘Desert Hymn’ does demonstrate this to an wonderful degree. Everything is agreeable, enjoyable but without requiring a dissection of every last meaning. Equal parts substance to catchy appeal; you can listen to Pomegranates for the instant hooks but also delve deeper into the meaning and dissect their lyrics to make something more.

The energy of ‘Thunder Island’ is akin to something Arcade Fire would unleash on the world. The musicianship is great, they know just where to put everything for maximum effect and at many times on the album you’ll find yourself wanting to sing along without really having a grasp on all the lyrics. An almost random percussion section fills out the end of this song, lending itself to a much more intense feel that you always felt was there but until this point had yet to unleash itself. We return to more familiar ground after this, singer Joey Cook’s vocals almost feminine at times but it does work.

Before you know it, everything is gone. Blasting away in a trail of glorious indie-pop glory, album closer ‘Thunder Meadow’ is more intense than a lot of the album but still retains an undoubted Pomegranates feeling. They rarely disappoint throughout, the album isn’t amazing and there’s always room for improvement from a debut album. But when you consider the amount of time Pomegranates took to get to this point then it’s exciting to think where they may go in future. Given more time this debut album may well have ranked among the best, but you don’t get the feeling they’ve arrived too soon, this is just the beginning of their story, long may it continue.

'Everything is Alive' is released on May 13th through Lujo Records
MySpace.com - Pomegranates (on iTunes) - Cincinnati, Ohio - Pop / Surf / Shoegaze - www.myspace.com/pomegranatesart