Couplet – LP1 | Album Review
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“Our letters wax and wane, but our stories will always end the same.”
When I learned that Couplet is a Tanner Jones project, my excitement hit peak levels. Having come of age musically in the heyday of You Blew It!, I was disappointed when their most ambitious effort, Abendrot, also turned out to be the band’s swan song. A songwriter and their vocals rarely match as well as Jones’s do. When yelps were needed, he went off; when ballads called for crooning, he soothed. His voice, both literally and lyrically, has been sorely missed and is now welcomed back with wide-open arms after a years-long break.
Adam Beck (Sincere Engineer) and Evan Weiss (Into It. Over It. and Pet Symmetry) are billed as re-imagining, arranging, and producing the songs written by Jones. In Couplet, the individual members’ contributions are each an embroidery unto the band’s musical tapestry. Through various filters, chorus, flangers, and reverb, Jones’s voice is more of an instrument that communicates the melodies through lyrics. Weiss’s recognizable style is not present and has changed drastically to fit this different style of music in contrast to his other projects. LP1 is both Jones’s show and a terrific, different new band.
Throughout the album’s 33 minutes, my head flowed and bobbed, swimming along to the songs as though I were floating in waves. Despite that summery vibe, LP1’s arrival is perfectly timed with autumn’s return. Evocations of American Football in the album’s title and overall somber atmosphere are present. Yes, with the emphasis on electronic elements, the comparison to The Postal Service is unavoidable, especially on opener “The Dregs,” first single “Old Elba,” and deeper cut “Forage.” The lyrics on “Page” even echo Ben Gibbard’s now-renowned style:
We’ll take our time
record it in between the lines
If your lead should break
We’ll pretend it’s something we’d erase
If the page runs out of space
We’ll fold it into an origami shape.
Where Couplet gets weird, though, is when they channel electronic Radiohead on “Mistresses All.” The main melody is more angular than the rest of the album; the boxy drums crash down in what will undoubtedly be an incredible live show. A synthesized bass line grounds the moody, spacey Moog. As accessible as LP1 is with its hooks abound, I hope Couplet’s upcoming music explores the soundscapes similar to those introduced in “Mistresses All.”
Couplet is not You Blew It! 2.0, and that is a good thing. The project is a totally different beast from the same musicians you already know and love in settings you do not typically find them. Nevertheless, if you fall into the camp that misses Tanner Jones, Couplet feels like a hot cup of coffee on a brisk October morning.
Joe Wasserman is a high school English teacher in New York City. When he’s not listening to music, he’s writing short stories, writing and recording music in his shoebox apartment, or loving his dogs, Franklin and Maudie. You can find him on Twitter at @a_cuppajoe.
