Awolnation

Awolnation's debut LP, Megalithic Symphony, is as grand as its title implies. With not one, but two intro tracks, as well as layers of bombastic drums and studio trickery, the album feels like some kind of symphony. This is Aaron Bruno's first full-length outing as a solo artist (he doubles as the lead singer of Under the Influence of Giants) and the newfound sense of freedom is heard upon first listen. Tracks like "Sail" and "Burn it Down" perfectly encapsulate the album ― captivating and smeared in quirky sounds ― but if you were to remove the many layers of implied experimentation on many of the tracks, they'd reveal themselves to be rather simplistic and lacking hooks. This isn't necessarily true for the entire album, as one listen to "Kill Your Heroes" tells you Bruno knows how to write a pop song when he needs to. One can only imagine what a great album this could have been if Megalithic Symphony wasn't quite so focused on being overproduced.