Abandoned Pools\nHumanistic\nExtasy Records International\nAdmittedly, I am reviewing Abandoned Pools' debut album, Humanistic, because the cover looked cool. Abandoned Pools singer Tommy Walter was the bassist for the Eels on their first album, Beautiful Freak, back in 1996. Walter does all the instrumentals on Humanistic with few exceptions, and takes credit for the writing.\nThe first track, "The Remedy," starts out sounding dark and ominous with synthesizer and a steady, constant drum beat before Walter comes in softly yet soulfully on vocals. The sing-songy yet catchy chorus starts in no time following the percussive beat. The song's tone is dark and morose but is sung with heart, and the lyrics have meaning.\nThe first single, "Mercy Kiss," starts out softly with the hum of an electric guitar gradually getting louder before the drums explode onto the track, picking up the pace and cranking up the volume. Walter wails and whines in the chorus, then immediately goes back to monotone for each verse.\n"Start Over" begins with a slow and steady trance-like beat with percussion and synthesizers. Walter makes use of his upper range in this track, nicely harmonizing with himself on background vocals in the chorus. "Monster" has a quiet intro that almost sounds muffled. Walter weakly comes in amid bass, guitar and percussion sounding slightly strained. \n"Blood" is the song that really allows Walter's soft and harder edges to come through. Birds chirp through the intro into the first verse of "Suburban Muse," when Walter comes in accompanied by Angie Hart on background vocals. "Sunny Day," although catchy in some portions, tends to drone a little bit.\n"L.V.B.D." tries too hard at being a hard, head-bangin' track and sort of fails. While the beat is there, Walter's vocals sound misplaced. Walter sounds best in a less frantic style like "Sunny Day," or even in "Ruin Your Life," where his vocals are only backed with light percussion and strings.\nWhile Abandoned Pools doesn't exactly have a completely original sound, it is hard to be a pioneer in a world of music where everything has been done already. Walter does his best and with a rather pleasant outcome.\n
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