Nakatomi Plaza - Private Property

One of the lyrics from Nakatomi Plaza's songs ("Hurray For One Good Eye") off their album Private Property is, and thus quoted: "So show me something that I couldn't predict tonight." Should we go further? There's a daunting aspect about this CD- It sounds quite honest and desparate, but yet not enough of either somehow. You get your emocore screamy-screamy, then your chime-guitar whiney-whiney (I'm not saying Nakatomi Plaza is whining, that's just the general...er, generalization.), then some dissollusionment, some depression, some confession, some exploding woodchuck guitar, etc, etc. Private Property is respectable and it's got some neat moments to be sure. The beginning of "Next Bus to New Orleans" where the chanted "It's times like these when just simply breathing" spoken lyric effects an eerieness, then catapults you into some nice tunage, with breaks and melody and some very impressive innovation that's sing-a-long, meaningful. There's the interesting "Our Hero Exits Stage Left..." that's almost "Say It Ain't So" Weezer-y, but not quite. Our hero doesn't actually ever go anywhere, much less exit a stage. I suppose my biggest beef with Nakatomi Plaza is the diary-entry aspects- It's vented, it's put out, but it's not solved or put to rest. The lyrics and vocabulary are commendable, but the production is really "young"-sounding. It'd be interested to see what this band grows into, because they're honest and crafty, which will make for some great music in the future. [www.bd-records.com]