Mpls/St. Paul "Rift Magazine"
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The Fountainheads - Self-Titled
by Nelson Heise
The Hornisch brothers can definitely crank out some catchy, melodic pop songs in the vein of the Beatles, and they even crank out some hard rockers on their self-titled debut album. There are enough addictive hooks to make you start singing along on the second listen, but I can't say I was 100 percent blown away. One thing I struggled with is the vocals. They came across to me as nasally and at times irritating, which is a shame because I enjoyed the lyrical content.
Here's the deal though: When there's more appealing than not about an album, it's a good disc.
Like I said before, the Hornisch brothers possess strong songwriting abilities. Tracks like "Under the Radar," "Out of Place" and "It's Misery They Like to See" are hard to resist, and the lo-fi vibe of the disc makes them feel warm. I almost forgot to mention the stellar song "Hard to See" with the clever little line: "Oh I didn't want to do it, but I did it anyway," which is universally relatable. I'm also a fan of brother songwriting teams, since that's how my band works - and that wins good marks from me. All in all, I really liked what I heard, so don't take my critique of the vocals to heart because the songs as a whole outshine the vocal performances. I'm just one guy; maybe I'm in the minority and the vocals are totally digestible.
Either way it's a damn fine disc.