Gatsby’s American Dream – In The Land of Lost Monsters

Gatsby’s American Dream, by know most of you have probably heard the name. I know I heard it a lot. My friend recently fell in love with the band’s latest EP, In The Land Of Lost Monsters, and really recommended I get it. Certain sites had been pushing the band over the past few years too, so it looked as if they were growing a very steady fan base. So I decided to listen to my friend and check out the band, and after the first song I knew my friend had been wrong to recommend it to me.

The EP starts off with Yes, This Is About You, a short song around a minute long. And what always gets me about this song is the last lyrics from it: “And the songs are uninspired, where’s the fucking chorus?” When I hear that I think to myself, “hey! Their talking about themselves!” That song had no chorus, and the entire EP seemed to be pretty uninspired to me. They are too mellow, too slow, and the vocals sometimes hurt my ears. None of the songs are catchy or really stand up by much. It wouldn’t convince me to see them live or check out some of their older stuff (2003’s Ribbons And Sugar). Each song is slow and melodic, merging emo with pop-punk, combining soft piano rhythms with soft guitar riffs. At times it reminds me of Straylight Run, but I love SR, so why do I find it hard to listen to Gatsby? I don’t know, but I do.

I would never think of recommending this EP to anyone, but like I said before, I know a few people who do recommend it. But for me, it doesn’t bring anything new or exciting to the table, it is just kind of boring.