Born in the Flood: If This Thing Should Spill
Morning After Records, 2007

At first blush, this album sounds like a skilled amalgamation of the more artistically ambitious pop rock of the last five years.

Hints of "Is This It?"-era Strokes and its tastefully clipped riffing are heard throughout. Flourishes of Coldplay’s soaring melodies highlight the edges. Interpol’s big chamber resonance informs the music’s sonic architecture.

In spite of all the borrowing from recent history, Born in the Flood has nonetheless always been much more than the sum of their parts.

At first blush, this album sounds like a skilled amalgamation of the more artistically ambitious pop rock of the last five years.

Hints of "Is This It?"-era Strokes and its tastefully clipped riffing are heard throughout. Flourishes of Coldplay’s soaring melodies highlight the edges. Interpol’s big chamber resonance informs the music’s sonic architecture.

In spite of all the borrowing from recent history, Born in the Flood has nonetheless always been much more than the sum of their parts.

The emotional intensity of Nathaniel Rateliff’s vocal performance is matched perfectly by the band’s expert ear for song dynamics and tonality. Never has this been more apparent than on the heart-swelling epic, “Anthem” where guitar chords shimmer, swirl and combust in warm waves of inspiration while Rateliff’s voice charges through with absolute certainty.

But within that certitude are the words of thoughtful spirit that is perhaps best expressed in the song immediately following; “In Debt to the Heart.” The band’s virtues of stirring atmospherics, heartfelt singing, adroitly cadenced rhythms and a sense of awe at the wonders life has to offer are embodied in that single song.

If Born in the Flood’s debut EP, "The Fear That We May Not Be", was promising, this most recent release is a delivery on that promise.