Make Believe--Of Course

This album was made fast. Really fast. Make Believe recorded the album quickly in the month before drummer Nate Kinsella had to report for 2 months of jail time, but you don’t need to know the back story to feel how rushed Of Course is. The Chicago outfit’s sophomore release, Of Course feels sloppy and just plain dull. The instrumentals could be described as experimental, but the off-beat guitar work and constant feedback does little to improve the quality of the songs, as does Tim Kinsella’s off-key vocals. There is an intense emotional foundation behind this album, as shown through the aggravation of Kinsella’s vocal climaxes, but when combined with seemingly random instrumentals, it just comes out as mush. Bits of songs such as "Bisect Duality" and "Sometimes I See Sideways" sound similar to Sonic Youth and other experimentalists, and "Pat Tillman, Emmitt Till" is an interesting piece that falls just short of finding Make Believe’s niche. Maybe I’m just not getting it, but when you sink right down to it Of Course sounds like a rushed and compromised album.

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