Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

The Lost Art of Conversation, Vol. 1 is the debut EP by A Third Wish Granted, a California trio that has received some fair amount of attention recently. This disc consists of six tracks which are somewhat uneven in execution but show promise for the band as a whole.

My immediate impression from the first three tracks --- Tell You So, Save The Angels, and Her --- was of a band enamored with the volume of Bob Mould (nothing wrong with that) and the imagination of Triumph (not so good). Her is actually, with Dearly Departed, the most impressive song on the disc; turning down the volume just a notch or two makes all the difference in the world. Paranoia’s Alter (sic) is a bit more interesting, but becomes a bit too involved with itself. Dearly Departed begins as a power ballad but dances with wimpiness in spots; still, it’s not bad, changing things up a bit in the middle and actually finishing pretty strong. My biggest problem with it, and indeed, with all of The Lost Art of Conversation, Vol. 1, is that most of the vocals are sung in chorus, rather than letting Emo Alaeddin, the erstwhile lead vocalist, handle things. The result is that things sound a bit overblown. This tendency is reigned in a bit on Silent Treatment, the EP’s closing track.

Actually, comparisons to Rush wouldn’t be out of place here. If you’re a fan of Rush (or Triumph, for that matter), you should definitely give this band, and this disc, a chance. For me, the songs for the most part, as well done as they were, ultimately went nowhere and took too long to get there. But that’s my gripe with Rush and Triumph as well. If you’re a fan of that music, go for it.