Noise By Numbers – Over Leavitt

Ugh. I know many kids are apeshit over this band because of their pedigree (Dan Schafer from Screeching Weasel and Jeff Dean of The Bomb, among others) but sheesh, this album is pretty lame. Eleven tracks of well-produced but gratingly tepid rock songs that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on the 90s alternative station. Reminds me how bands like Gumball and Overwhelming Colorfast would have one or two radio hits, and then an album’s remainder full of hookless, stodgy pop songs. Bummer to say, but Over Leavitt sounds like the filler of those albums. There’s absolutely no momentum here at all.

Consisting of eleven songs of mid-tempo, guitar-heavy rock with layered, effect-laden vocals, I really don’t really know what else to say about it. Maybe in a live setting, the glossy veneer is worn away and some modicum of energy is infused into these songs, but on record, Over Leavitt is kind of a chore to listen to. A song like “Radiate”, with its twinkly guitars, snail’s-pace tempo and droning chorus, just goes on and on and on. It’s clear I’m in the minority, as this band’s been called everything from a “supergroup” to “infectiously melodic”, none of which I hear coming from the speakers. I wish I did, honestly. Even the album’s fastest number, “Yeah, Whatever”, comes across as lumbering and tiresome.

I recently read an interview with Jeff Dean in the second issue of Brain Storm zine, and he comes across as a likeable dude who has spent a long time and a put a lot of work into playing music. It’s clear that it’s something he loves and deeply cares about. I don’t doubt the integrity of these guys at all. I don’t think they’re jumping on any bandwagon. I just think Over Leavitt is a shockingly uninteresting album released by a group of wholly capable musicians.