“Give In” by On An On

January 29. 2013 | By Jamie Lynn

on an on lp

On An On
Give In
[Roll Call Records]

What do you do when your band of five becomes a trio? If you are Nate Eisland, Alissa Ricci, and Ryne Eastwing you decide to go with a name change: Scattered Trees so long, hello On An On. Also for your new sound, you have Dave Newfeld (Broken Social Scene) to come produce your record. This troupe of singer/songwriters isn’t just riding along on the laurels Scattered Trees had collected; “Ghosts” was recently featured on a “Grey’s Anatomy” episode. But don’t think that means this Chicago 3 will be slotted neatly into some generic indie background music placeholder. They had a very specific goal in this new album-break boundaries and make something worthwhile. Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together?

On “The Hunter,” the combination of massive drums and vocoder is a perfect match for the aggressive lyrics. “Bad Mythology” invites you stomp and clap along while the guitar riffs rev you up to sing along. “I Wanted to Say More” is musically spare, melancholy with painfully honest lyrics we all relate to. Give In is 10 songs that are superbly crafted by artists who know what is important-being true to themselves while challenging each other to do something better.

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