Failed Diplomacy: X Ambassadors Really Don't Represent

X Ambassadors

I'm sure that you have heard X Ambassadors, even if you have never even heard of them.  They have a few songs that are ever-present on the radio,  Like "Renegades".  I downloaded their first album, "VHS" simply for that song.  I should have saved my money and just bought that song, because the rest of the album doesn't do much for me.

But that song!  "Renegades" is the perfect song - a catchy rhythm set to acoustic guitars, a weepy electric guitar, and a ton of hooks.  It is dreamy, nostalgic, and haunting.  It could have been written by The Church.

Notwithstanding having the perfect song, the rest of the album doesn't rise to the proverbial occasion.  I guess "VHS" is a concept album, filled with several intros, outros, and interludes with tape recordings of the band members at different stages of their lives.  It really doesn't work and serves as a major distraction to the music.  But songs like "Hang On" or "Gorgeous" or "Low Life"  will have you wishing for the interludes as the singer starts crooning like Michael Bolton!  Freaking Michael Bolton!  They even do a song with Imagine Dragons, which explains a lot.  I guess the lead singer from Imagine Dragons discovered this band from Ithaca, New York.  This is the kind of music I detest - coiffed and tailored pop-rock designed to please the masses without having any real substance.

There are a few happy, shining moments on this album.  "Unsteady" is pretty good, although it gets a ton of radio airplay.  "Nervous" is a decent song with its drum & bass beat set to Latin guitars and Bee Gees, falsetto vocals, but it works.

Not enough to redeem the whole album.  Save your shekels and download their one perfect song.

(Michael Bolton!)