Admit One

Admit One is a morph band. The four musicians each contribute a different twist to the overall sound of their music. The band's latest EP reflects the group's mosaic sound.
Most recently, the band released an EP entitled
"Light Pollution"
The title of the album is not hard to figure out after you listen to the EP. The third song, City Lights states it quite clearly and serves as the core for the album. "Light Pollution" is an album that relates to people's situation in life. Each song depicts the journey in life in reflection of how they see the journey.

The music itself is interesting because each song is a little different (except "Open Eyes" and "Closed Eyes," quite similar). The album opens (and closes) with a rhythmic piano and string piece but moves into a rocking "Tempest" and "City Lights". The gapless album then slides into a slower duet starring their drummer Christian Singleton singing on the album. After the duet, my favorite song begins with an acoustic guitar and a mandelin. Another twist in the second-to-last song on the album ("Free") with great harmony from twin brothers. Have you ever wondered if twin harmonies sound better than regular harmonies? Well, they do.

Although each song's style varies, the overall theme remains constant. "Light Pollution" revolves around the human condition. The lyrics suggest the love of their God and the position that Christians today often find themselves in. Ben told me that some bands have a "jpm" or a "Jesus per Minute." Admit One is not a praise band, but definitely know where their priorities in life lie. - Kyle Jones

Admit One, a foursome from North Carolina, released their EP Light Pollution just last month. And while these seven tracks aren’t my style, damn if they aren’t pretty and professional.

Recorded at RFG Studios and Giraffe Studio and mixed and mastered at Popgun Studios, Light Pollution is irrefutably a meticulously crafted and properly done work.

The results are watery, colorful guitars, like Incubus at their softest; airy, intricate arrangements; and delicate melodies and smooth vocals à la Dashboard Confessional.

The bleary guitar of “Open Eyes” introduces the record, which makes its sparkly, dreamy, softcore way through clean-cut drumbeats, airy cymbals (“Tempest”), low-pitched acoustic guitar (“Long Way Down”) and beautiful piano (“Closed Eyes”).

This record is nothing new; starry-eyed alternative rock has already been done to death, but at least Admit One didn’t make a sloppy job of it. - Murfreesboro Pulse - Jessica Pace

I finally found a place to download Admit1/Admit One's new songs last week and I finally found the time to write a decent review. So no one is confused, this is the indie/rising Christian band from Hendersonville, North Carolina. (For organizational purposes, they are tagged as "admit1" but I will refer to them as "Admit One" in this review).

The title "People Are Small" is one reflective of the band's humble approach to rock music and the Christian gospel message. Taken from their page on CDBaby, they say about the album:
The album "People Are Small" is about everyday people and everyday life. As we go through these things we realize how truly small we are. Many times our plans for this life don't work out, but what we find instead is what we really needed.
The cover art is cute and whimsical, very much like the style of Sanctus Real's cover art and the influence of Sanctus Real and many other Christian bands is also evident in their musical style. Unlike the aforementioned band, Admit One incorporates some strings (they have a cellist) and a few piano parts which greatly strengthen the album.

Admit One mostly remains on a mellow note, but they do have a couple of surprising deviations. "Candlelit," the song on their EP is re-recorded and features some great drop-tuned guitar riffs gives it a melancholic feel enhanced by the vocals. Meanwhile, "Echo" has an up-beat, bluesy rhythm in the chorus that was stuck in my head all day when I first heard it. The EP songs, "This New Page" and "Remedy" probably remain as the best songs this band has ever produced so far. The former song is a tender ballad about starting over life as a new person without focusing on our past mistakes because Christ has erased them all. "Remedy" begins very softly, but towards the last half, the tempo picks up until it crescendos into a powerful, soulful chorus declaring Christ's love as the remedy for our hearts.

The album opens with "Wrecking Ball," a fun, passionate song that gets a little awkward on the vocal portions. It seems like it'd be awesome to see performed live. "Alibis" is the subsequent song with a bluesy feel that reminds me slightly of some of Switchfoot's songs (the one's I wasn't really fond of). I personally don't like this song all that much, not because it is convicting lyrically (it certainly is), but because as a whole it doesn't really do much for me. Again, we have an awkward time reaching and holding the higher notes, but I still like the guitar riffs at the end.

Probably the two new songs that stand out the most for me are "Heartbeat" and "The Cracked Vase and the Autumn Leaf." "Heartbeat" was made into a music video/slide show of sorts that you can view on the band's Facebook page. Both songs have soothing, twinkling melodic guitars and crisp, clear vocals which make me smile every time I listen to them. I love the analogies portrayed in "The Cracked Vase . . ." and how it lays out the Christian philosophy of "to lose is to gain." In my head, I thought of this cute little tree and vase with eyes and smiley faces - kinda like the drawings on those Loyal Army T-shirts. Haha . . .

The songs "War (The Victory)" and "When I Look in Your Eyes" are equally good songs, but they are just not as strong musically in my opinion when compared to the others though they have some strong messages, especially "War." The album concludes with an "Unknown Track" which sounds like a raw studio recording or a live setting. I really didn't have much of an opinion about it - I would have preferred if "War" simply ended the album.

Wow, I've said a mouth full! As for my opinion of People Are Small overall, I think it is a promising start to this band if they chose to continue making music together. The album has some rough parts and some areas that need improvement, but I believe working out those areas won't be a great challenge as they obviously have a lot of talent. It is a lot like a toddler - it takes a few shaky steps, but the fact it is even trying to walk is assurance that it is going in the right direction and only needs a little more growth and development to smooth things out. The good parts do stand out from the tiny negative parts and People Are Small is an amazing testimony and spiritual journey if anything else needs to be said about it.

Please, please support them and purchase their digital album at their CDBaby page if it sounds like something you'd enjoy. - Southern Fried Noodles