Aqueduct - Or Give Me Death

The most immediate quality on Aqueduct’s Or Give Me Death is lead singer David Terry’s voice. Smug, self-satisfied, he’s brimming with a cocky confidence that aims for charming and falls really, really short. Embarrassingly short. Like a football filled with concrete. I attribute this to two things; first, that his voice is actually really nasal. It’s geeky and it’s big, like one of those kids who’s always being told to talk softer, and it feels out of place next to the quiet bedroom pop that accompanies it. Secondly, his lyrics are awful. Stupid, anti-witty one-liners any self respecting confident front man would have crumpled up instantly. So, he’s the un-self conscious frat boy who says terrible things and doesn’t realize it, who finds himself a record deal because if he were somebody else, his music might be enjoyable. Because, if you can get beyond him, you’ll realize that some of these songs are really good; the arrangements are surprisingly complex, and the fills are satisfying. Maybe someday soon Aqueduct will get wise and sew David’s mouth shut like the guy in Pan’s Labyrinth. At that point, the band might have a record worth talking about. But until then we're stuck with lines like "It's not living a lie if you're not living at all." What the hell is that? [www.aqueductisgoodmusic.com]