Rookie opens with ‘Whimpering Child’, a darkly atmospheric track with driving acoustic rhythm guitar and halftime vocals that made me unavoidably think of late 90s Australian band, Lo-Tel. I’m not sure what such a comparison would mean to most people, it probably depends greatly on how much you liked Looking for Alibrandi, but, backed up by the rest of the album, it had me convinced that I would probably have liked Rookie a lot more if I were 14 years old.
There are some nice elements on this album, aside from the angst (of which there is plenty). The harmonies are lovely throughout, and the guitar work is gentle but interesting; in fact, most of the actual music I thought was quite well done – but I could not bear lead singer Thomas Calder’s vocals.
Calder sings in an irritatingly affected tone that includes bizarre pronunciations of ordinary words with a strong emphasis on cutesiness. Coupled with most of the songs being about beautifully sad girls, lonely mothers and misunderstood children, I felt unable to connect with such hackneyed material, especially when expressed by such an artificial voice.
I enjoyed the interplay of guitar, bass and keyboard as they weaved in and out on ‘Heavy Lifting’, and found the sharp delivery and torrid backing on ‘Climate’ interesting; likewise, ‘Soldiers’ provided some variation with its brooding, gothic synthesised bass and strong beat. On other tracks, when not bringing Lo-Tel to the teenagers of today, The Trouble with Templeton also display some echoes of Grizzly Bear and Elliott Smith. However, even without my aversion to Calder’s vocals, Rookie would still feel like a re-tread of old territory, but I suppose if a 14 year old girl stumbles across this album, perhaps as a gateway to her first foray into indie pop, she may appreciate Rookie in ways I think I might be beyond. At least in this genre.
5/10
Reviewer: Frances Bulley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBruW1DCs38