The Airborne Toxic Event (Deluxe Edition)

The Airborne Toxic Event is also known as T.A.T.E. They are an alternative rock band with a punk edge from Los Feliz, California. The band consists of Mikel Jollett (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Chen (guitar, keyboards), Noah Harmon (bass), Daren Taylor (drums) and Anna Bulbrook (viola, keyboards, tambourine, backing vocals). For indie rock, they may not be considered unique, but for a debut album, I think they do a good job.

The album has a hyper, up beat sound to it. Mikel Jollett's vocals are deep and scratchy, bringing heaviness to the tone. The elements mix well together to tell stories of lost love, confusion, and depression. Many of the songs have a good indie sound to them. My favorite song is "Sometime Around Midnight." The instrumental helps the listener prepare for a story. You can feel the pain, anger, and dizziness of the events clearly. "Wishing Well" has a perky beat for a self-loathing song and is a great start to the album. "Papillon," "Gasoline," and "Something New" have fluent beats, clear, emotion lyrics, and fun guitar riffs. I like "Happiness Is Overrated" because of its slow, heavy beat and simple sounding guitar strum. I loved the additional tracks that included the acoustic versions of "Gasoline" and "Sometime Around Midnight."

"Does This Mean You're Moving On?" is a song where the repetitiveness of the drum beat, guitar and lyrics makes the song sound tired. The singer's voice is deep and ruff. He talks a lot of his lyrics. His voice is something to be careful of. I think this is the deciding factor of whether you like or hate the band. The deluxe edition has extra songs, which is more of the same sounding theme, which is good if you like their style. I felt cheated buying only 10 tracks but I feel these extra songs could have been on a normal album. If you are not into this style of music, then you will not like this album. They're a straightforward sound and genre.

There are very few songs that stick out separately from the album but it doesn't lose a place in my CD player or on my iPod. Once I start listening to this album, I don't find myself going to other bands or music. The band holds their own well. They have potential and since the album is not long, it doesn't overstay its welcome. I would check T.A.T.E. before the buy to make sure this is a sound you will like. "Sometime Around Midnight" is a single to check out.