the long winters

when i pretend to fall

'"When I Pretend to Fall" is a smarmy rock album that borders on falling into the singer/songwriter trap, a phrase that is quickly becoming both overdone and taboo.

Lead singer John Roderick has that loud and slightly left-of-center vocal style that, when layered on top of 10,000 Maniacs-type orchestration, makes The Long Winters' music sound like something directly out of a recent rock opera. Think "Rent" without the super-annoying songs. Well, except for "Cinnamon," the album's fourth track. The leitmotif "Her skin is cinnamon" sticks in your head like the vision of a car crash; you'd do anything to get rid of it.

This album is an impressive work, akin to Melville's "Billy Budd" or Joyce's "Finnegan's Wake." It need not be experienced more than once. During that experience, though, there will be a tendency to play the name-dropping game. There are inevitable comparisons from clear across the musical spectrum.

At points, The Long Winters have a heavy Ben Folds Five feel to them. During some songs, there is a Greg Macpherson Band kind of folk-background-over-raspy-vocals aura about it. Throughout some points, Roderick's voice can be filed under the influence of a young Michael Stipe, and John Popper at other points. At the album's kickoff, "When I Pretend to Fall" sounds like part Jets to Brazil, par Karate but it quickly digresses from there. It becomes unctuous, silicon.

This is a record for college kids who pride themselves in the one-acts they've written and those who enjoy soundtracks to modern musicals. It might even be a guilty pleasure. The third track off the album, "Shapes," certainly fits into that category.

The record's highlight comes at the end. Now, that is not meant as the insult it's usually taken as. Honestly, it's not. The last four and a half minutes of this album are pure bliss. "Nora," the album's closer, has a musky odor about it. It's raw and less superficial than other tracks. This song, where The Long Winters hit closest to their REM influence, is undoubtedly the album's best track. It's a nice surprise, a warm and comforting light at the end of a long stretch of tunnel.