2005-01-17 - 2:24 p.m. I've (and prolly you've) been hearing a lot about Ambulance Ltd. for the past couple of years, and I finally got to spend some time with their first full-length album this weekend. They've got some things goin' on. I respect any band that opens an album with a crackin' good instrumental (named "Yoga Means Union," no less!)...and they man their instruments skillfully (particularly the two guitarists, who I can't tell apart). There are some big hooks, lots of sweet backing vocals, and if you like a big ol' woozy Bunnymen/MBV production, you'll be in heaven here. However, there is an anonymous quality to this music that leaves me a little chilly. The singer has a serviceable voice but there is nothing outstanding about it. I would not be able to pick an Ambulance Ltd song out of a line-up based on the vocals. The glossy CD booklet wastes 6 pages on drab, arty still lifes, and one Tiger Beat portrait of the band playing the sultry heartthrobs. In a perfect world, those pages would have lyrics so we could figure out what the boys were singing about, and perhaps credits so you knew who was whom (why do bands not believe in credits these days?). After several listens, I feel like I still don't know these young lads. I guess that''s what websites are for. I will likely shut up about 24 soon, but today I just have this comment to make: I appreciate that Season 3 (I'm still watching the DVDs, haven't seen the current season yet) is a little mellower than the previous seasons. There's still lots of drama and tension, but not every episode ends with a cliffhanger, and the writers are willing to let the story unfold at a slower pace. For instance the Anne/Ted subplot could easily have turned into a cheesy false accusation of murder, or Anne could have turned out to be a villain, etc. Instead the writers used Ted's dilemma as a device to develop his and Anne's (and David's) characters--not an opportunity for another cheap plot twist. Er, not that the show is without cheese, mind you. There's still plenty of that. But it seems like the producers/writers thought this season through ahead of time instead of cobbling things together as they went along. thoughts? (0 comments so far) previous - next blog archive contact