PopSyndicate.com

Add this album to your personal list of bands not to miss. Seriously. These guys, they are a real gem. John Dragonetti and Blake Hazzard make up this sweet sounding duo, mixing their unique indie sound flawlessly with dabs of various decades of pop, blending their voices together to make their own amazing sound.

The story of how the Submarines came to be is a bittersweet one. The two dated, split apart, and wrote songs about each other. Later one they got back together by sharing their songs and forming their first album. This new one is so happy and upbeat, full of catchy songs and beats that you want to listen to over and over again. The effect is a very happy album seemingly infused with actual sunshine and vines of honeysuckle.

It was a surprising album for me. The sound is very fluid and fun, and lots of catchy songs. Fans of Snow Patrol, Grandaddy, and Postal Service, and other similar bands, should have no problem falling in love with this album. The album opens with the song ‘Submarine Symphonika’, which instantly opens you up to the feel of the album with lyrics like “everybody deserves to be adored, why would you settle for less when the world gives you more”, Hazzard’s voice sweeping through guitar riffs and bubbly symphony like sounds. ‘Thorny Thicket’ is about as summery as a song could get, with light and breathy vocals over keyboard melodies. ‘You me and the Bourgeoisie’ is toe tapping genius, with a wonderful beet and lyrics that could do more good for the soul than most of the self help books out there. Lyrics like “every day we wake up we chose love, we chose life”, once again being sung brilliantly by Hazzard.

‘The Wake Up Song’ is one of the few where John Dragonetti’s voice is the lead. His vocals have a very soft feel, but they meld well over the song. Just as well as they do accompanying Hazzard’s voice on most of the rest of the album. My absolute favorite is ‘Swimming Pool’, the sixth track. I have honestly added this to my personal list of all time favorite feel good songs. I would lyric quote this one as well but the whole song is just wonderful. More than any other track, you can really hear the love and admiration this couple have for each other come through. Guys/Girls, this is a song to get you some extra ‘aww’ points with your significant other.

Overall I love this album. Love it. I can’t count how many times I have listened to it… how many times the songs have gotten stuck in my head whether it be work, home, waking up or falling asleep. Not that I am complaining. I am tempted to go buy their first album, and hope they have another after this. If you don’t like sunny pop songs you might not like this album, but I would recommend at least listening to some samples to see what you think. They also have a MySpace you can check out, http://www.myspace.com/thesubmarinesmusic.

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