{"id":21950,"date":"2014-06-10T13:34:44","date_gmt":"2014-06-10T13:34:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-you-had-me-at-hello-spirals\/"},"modified":"2018-03-17T15:35:27","modified_gmt":"2018-03-17T15:35:27","slug":"album-review-you-had-me-at-hello-spirals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-you-had-me-at-hello-spirals\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: You Had Me at Hello – Spirals"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The conventional wisdom is that live is where it matters for bands. If you can bring it on stage then poor production and a lack of technique won\u2019t matter because live is where it matters. It\u2019s where you build your audience, its where your conviction truly shines and people can really fall in love with your music. For the sake of You Had Me At Hello<\/strong>,\u00a0I really hope the conventional wisdom holds true because if they\u2019re hoping to sell themselves off ‘Spirals’,<\/em> it\u2019s going to be a tough sell.<\/p>\n

You Had Me At Hello<\/strong>\u00a0are remarkable in that they\u2019re totally unremarkable. There\u2019s nothing here that gives the band a sense of identity or that would help me to recognise them without the help of the title on a Soundcloud embed. There\u2019s swathes of pop punk, the occasional streak of surly alt rock and suitably vague emotive lyrics and anguished melodies. There\u2019s nothing wrong with any of those ingredients, but their presentation on ‘Spirals<\/em>’ is far from inspiring.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing particularly bad about this album, in fact its remarkably consistent throughout.\u00a0 All the tracks here are as good as each other, the problem is that none of them are that strong, except for ‘Planets’<\/em>. Every track here is stronger than pointless exercise in moody ambience. When the band pick up the pace a bit such as on ‘Tonight You Lost’<\/em> and ‘Build The Rest of Me’<\/em>, they sound a bit more convincing, but they never deliver enough bite or muscle to suggest that they have what it takes to these songs to bigger stages.<\/p>\n

This record doesn\u2019t sound particularly powerful, the guitars and vocals are much better than the rhythm section in the mix which robs the music of a sense of momentum that the band could benefit from. There\u2019s no\u00a0 point in being upbeat if that beat isn\u2019t obvious to your listeners. The odd thing about the record is that it does get slightly better as it goes on. Saving the best for last is a poor tactic when it comes to trying to attract new fans.<\/p>\n

If the tracks from ‘Spirals’<\/em> sound good live then maybe You Had At Me Hello<\/strong>\u00a0do have some future as openers for bigger bands pedalling the same blend of modern alt rock and pop punk, and maybe if they learn from those bands and throw a bit more money at their next recording they could become something. This is only a debut release after all.<\/p>\n

But if they continue to put out tracks like ‘Yes You Are’,<\/em> they\u2019re more likely to leave audiences wincing in front of their stereos instead of smiling with anticipation in the ticket queue.<\/p>\n

2\/5<\/p>\n

‘Spirals’<\/em> by You Had Me at Hello<\/strong> is out now.<\/p>\n

You Had Me at Hello<\/strong> links: Website<\/a>|Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n

Words by Callum McMillan (@CalumMcMillan2<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The conventional wisdom is that live is where it matters for bands. If you can bring it on stage then poor production and a lack of technique won\u2019t matter because live is where it matters. It\u2019s where you build your audience, its where your conviction truly shines and people can really fall in love with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,8181],"tags":[5879,9823,9822],"class_list":["post-21950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","category-post","tag-album-reviews","tag-spirals","tag-you-had-me-at-hello"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAlbum Review: You Had Me at Hello - Spirals - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The conventional wisdom is that live is where it matters for bands. If you can bring it on stage then poor production and a lack of technique won\u2019t matter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Album Review: You Had Me at Hello - Spirals - Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The conventional wisdom is that live is where it matters for bands. If you can bring it on stage then poor production and a lack of technique won\u2019t matter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-you-had-me-at-hello-spirals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-10T13:34:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-17T15:35:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/tumblr_inline_n6v6u4RxRn1qheirv.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"150\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"150\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Album Review: You Had Me at Hello - Spirals - Already Heard Staging","description":"The conventional wisdom is that live is where it matters for bands. If you can bring it on stage then poor production and a lack of technique won\u2019t matter","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Album Review: You Had Me at Hello - Spirals - Already Heard Staging","og_description":"The conventional wisdom is that live is where it matters for bands. If you can bring it on stage then poor production and a lack of technique won\u2019t matter","og_url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-you-had-me-at-hello-spirals\/","og_site_name":"Already Heard Staging","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","article_published_time":"2014-06-10T13:34:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-03-17T15:35:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":150,"height":150,"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/tumblr_inline_n6v6u4RxRn1qheirv.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_site":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-you-had-me-at-hello-spirals\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-you-had-me-at-hello-spirals\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/508ed29771f8c5b56fdcf4695f22a2a3"},"headline":"Album Review: You Had Me at Hello – Spirals","datePublished":"2014-06-10T13:34:44+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-17T15:35:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-you-had-me-at-hello-spirals\/"},"wordCount":501,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-you-had-me-at-hello-spirals\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/tumblr_inline_n6v6u4RxRn1qheirv.jpg","keywords":["Album Reviews","Spirals","You Had Me At Hello"],"articleSection":["Album Reviews","Post"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-you-had-me-at-hello-spirals\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-you-had-me-at-hello-spirals\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-you-had-me-at-hello-spirals\/","name":"Album Review: You Had Me at Hello - Spirals - Already Heard Staging","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-you-had-me-at-hello-spirals\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-you-had-me-at-hello-spirals\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/tumblr_inline_n6v6u4RxRn1qheirv.jpg","datePublished":"2014-06-10T13:34:44+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-17T15:35:27+00:00","description":"The conventional wisdom is that live is where it matters for bands. If you can bring it on stage then poor production and a lack of technique won\u2019t matter","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-you-had-me-at-hello-spirals\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-you-had-me-at-hello-spirals\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/tumblr_inline_n6v6u4RxRn1qheirv.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/tumblr_inline_n6v6u4RxRn1qheirv.jpg","width":150,"height":150},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","name":"Already Heard Staging","description":"Covering the best in alternative music as best as we can","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization","name":"Already Heard","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","width":500,"height":500,"caption":"Already Heard"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","https:\/\/x.com\/alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/alreadyheard\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/already-heard\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/AlreadyHeardMusic","https:\/\/tiktok.com\/@alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@alreadyheard"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/508ed29771f8c5b56fdcf4695f22a2a3","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcf4d491c971b5225a3e3c450225c0ae6ba0217be8f6ecb776a9506d4aa5595f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcf4d491c971b5225a3e3c450225c0ae6ba0217be8f6ecb776a9506d4aa5595f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcf4d491c971b5225a3e3c450225c0ae6ba0217be8f6ecb776a9506d4aa5595f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21950"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38136,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21950\/revisions\/38136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}