Release Date: (October 21, 2001)
Label: Galaxy 21 Music
Producer: Marc Byrd, Andrew Thompson & Common Children

December Hotel
Overall Rating:  ++++-  

(Last Display)

It seems 2001 is the "Year of the Comeback" for bands we all thought had disappeared forever. Weezer, Presidents of the USA, Daniel Amos, The Toadies, Poor Old Lu . . . and now, Common Children. Thank God for musicians who just can't stop the rock. Except the Children have now almost completely left said rock. They began their career with the well-received post-grunge pop of Skywire, then continued with the critically-acclaimed, Choir-ish Delicate Fade. They return on The Inbetween Time even further out, treading the narrow walkway between the solid structures of pop and the drifting fog of space rock. This may be one of the most accessible dream pop albums ever, due to the balancing act they pull off between the two traditionally opposing approaches to music. For every upbeat "So Mysterious" (about a girl who "keeps me curious when she talks about her dreams"), or "Free" (with solid drums / bass and deep fuzz guitar), there's a double dose of warm, slowly blissful guitars and minimal vocals. They never go loopy like Pink Floyd, or get lost in themselves like Radiohead, though. Their lyrical rocketship is full of strong starlight, day / night, light / dark, and waking imagery. They're definitely trying to send a clear transmission of hope through the darkness of space to a stranded mankind: "Hold on, help is on the way."

. . .The album ends with the killer title track, for once dispensing with vocals and going completely psychedelic, leaping off in zero gravity and seeing just how far they can spread their atoms without coming apart completely. The atmospheric acoustic ballad, "Crashing Down," ends the album reminding us, "You should know by now, it's going to hurt like the first time and this won’t be the last time your heart comes crashing down," but "one day, face to face, you will find your resting place." Then it's over, and you realize you just heard the perfect soundtrack to set your heartbeat by, and you feel as though you're under a full moon and starlit sky, on a cliff overlooking city lights, with tears running down your face.

. . .Like Cush, The Violet Burning, The Prayer Chain, and even The Choir, Common Children have proven you don't need chemical substances to take a trip. You've already got the right mix inside you; you just need the right music to start your spirit swirling

-- Josh Spencer