On Thursday, September 25th, 2001, Pasadena, CA, an Alternative/Indie Rock group led by the Singer-Songwriter and Multi-Instrumentalist Tommy Walter Abandoned Pools released their debut album, Humanistic. The group promoted two singles from the album: “Mercy Kiss” and “The Remedy.”
Their first five songs are my favorite tracks. The opening track, “The Remedy”, is an amazing Heavy Alternative opener in the vein of that features elements of Emo-Pop, Post-Hardcore, Trip Hop, Shoegaze, and Dream Pop with lyrics with a crushingly powerful and catchy chorus. The best way to describe the song is a more Emo-Pop influenced Smashing Pumpkins and Failure. The second track, “Mercy Kiss”, is a great Post-Grunge/Heavy Alternative/Power Pop track that reminds me of a fusion of The Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, and Failure, especially their track Sergeant Politeness from Fantastic Planet. It is a catchy track about a breakup, specifically, “You lead me on, I don't need your mercy kiss”. The third track, “Start Over”, is an excellent melancholic Post-Britpop/Alternative Rock/Indietronica ballad-esque track that reminds me of Feeder, early Radiohead, and The Verve’s Urban Hymns. This is also the first song on the album that features Angie Hart’s backing vocals, and they work super well. It also could have been an excellent radio hit, featuring, especially with the intense breakup lines “We can start with all the things that turn us out, and we can go right down the list and throw them out”. The fourth track, “Monster”, is a powerful Post-Grunge/Alternative Metal track that reminds me of something Breaking Benjamin would do in their career if they added more Shoegaze, Post-Hardcore, Dream Pop, and Emo-Pop influence. It features amazing vocals from Walter, and a great atmosphere and angsty lyrics that fit the instrumentation.
The fifth track, “Blood”, is an amazing and moody Post-Grunge /Heavy Alternative/Dream Pop track that may have the catchiest chorus on the album, such as “Just take it easy on yourself, forget all the stupid things we say”. The next two tracks feature Angie Hart on the backing vocals, and she does a great job. The sixth track, “Suburban Muse”, is a really nice sounding Alternative/Indie Pop Rock track that has the most relaxing mood on the entire album. The seventh track, “Sunny”, is amazing Alternative/Indie Pop/Baggy song that sounds musically very upbeat and relaxing, but to contrast lyrically it is quite a sad song that seems to about a person who is trying to be happier but they’re down especially “Another sunny day, (C'mon) C'mon (get out) get out, Another sunny day”. I love the contrast musically and lyrically in that song. The eighth track, “L.V.B.D.”, is an excellent and aggressive Post-Grunge/Alternative Metal track that not only reminds me of the Smashing Pumpkins musically but also with the emotion of misery in the lyrics, especially with the chorus “I'll be nothing forever, forever, I'll be nothing forever, forever”.
The ninth track, “Ruin Your Life”, is a Dream Pop and Indie Pop track that is probably the most lowkey song as it features a Trip-Hop and a Chamber Pop influence, and the atmosphere is very mellow. Plus, Angie Hart’s vocals are the best part of the song, as especially when she sings the catchy chorus “And if you want me to ruin your life, I'd love to ruin your life.” The tenth track “Never” is probably my least favorite track on the album, but it is not a bad song. Stylistically, it is a Post-Britpop/Pop Rock/Singer-Songwriter track that features an acoustic guitar playing in the background. In terms of all of the songs on the album, I am surprised that this song didn’t get any airplay because it reminds me of plenty of Post-Britpop acts that are on the very Pop Rock side of things (early Coldplay and Snow Patrol). The eleventh track, “Seed” is a very aggressive and angsty Post-Grunge/Alternative Metal/Post-Hardcore track that feels like a more Industrial-influenced version of Zero by The Smashing Pumpkins from their 3rd album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995), but it is really stands out on its own with Walter’s vocal performance. The Final track “Fluorescein” is an excellent Post-Grunge/Heavy Alternative/Post-Hardcore closer that reminds me of something similar that Linkin Park would do with one of their Alt Rocky songs on their second album Meteora (2003) like Easier to Run except it doesn’t the Nu-Metal undertone, Hip-Hop influence, or Rapping.
Overview: This album is a 9.5/10 or 4.75/5, due to a combination of Abandoned Pools’ eclecticism throughout the Alternative Rock genre as a whole (mixing different subgenres of Alt Rock together), ability to balance heavy and aggressive songs with more mellow and lowkey songs without losing their melodicism or appeal, and lastly Tommy Walter’s overall musicianship, as in being able to play many of the different instruments from the whole album.
Track List:
The Remedy - 3:56
Mercy Kiss - 3:17
Start Over - 4:02
Monster - 3:47
Blood - 4:13
Suburban Muse - 3:50
Sunny Day - 3:59
L.V.B.D. - 3:25
Ruin Your Life - 3:45
Never - 3:38
Seed - 3:30
Fluorescein - 4:19
Total Length: 45:47
Favorite Tracks: “The Remedy”, “Mercy Kiss” “Start Over”, “Monster”, “Blood”, “Sunny Day”, and “L.V.B.D.”, “Seed”, and “Fluorescein”
Least Favorite Tracks: "Never"
Recommended For: Fans of Heavy Alternative/Alternative Rock groups like Thirty Seconds to Mars (first two albums), Weezer (early), The Smashing Pumpkins, Failure, Feeder, and Foo Fighters (early).
Have an opposing viewpoint to this opinion? Let us know. All views are welcome. Send your thoughts to our Editorial Staff – Editor Thomas Szot tszot@student.dean.edu or Dean Daily Faculty Advisor, Professor John Rooke jrooke@dean.edu
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