I found T. Nautilus to be the exact opposite of what I was expecting based on the album artwork. The opening song of the album, “A Weird Nautilus,” is intriguing yet very slow-going, similar to that of a grade-seven band concert that eventually builds in to some sort of modern sea-shanty with new-school instrumental contributions. An odd combination, yet it turns out to be a pretty impressive evolution. At this point you have no idea what to expect.
The album is upbeat and very catchy, with a really cool arrangement. The vocal performances are strong and the lyrics are well placed and meaningful. “Down on the Ground” and “Feel it Now” are fantastic – they are the two songs on the album that I couldn’t stop listening to. They’re so interesting and both have awesome melodies that will be stuck in your head all day. It reminds me of Foster the People with a hint of Winnipeg and just the right amount of experimentation.
There are a variety of layers in all the songs with tons of instrumental sounds coming in pleasingly odd places. However, I sometimes found the odd noises and vocals incoherent and random in the middle of songs. Sometimes they forced the song to linger and lose the potential for a strong finish or perfect simplicity. On the other hand, “Silencer” ended so abruptly that I wasn’t even expecting it and I found myself comparing it to someone putting a stick through your bicycle spokes as you’re cruising along.
I would highly recommend listening to it more than once before you make a full judgement because there is a lot going on and this album can be pretty weird. With this in mind, the album will find itself back in the CD player over and over again and I’m adding quite a few songs to my local music collection.
www.tnautilus.bandcamp.com
