TUMULTUARY

When I was thirteen my parents got me a little Sandisk mp3 player with 512mb of storage. It was loaded with some of the best Christian rock money could buy but more importantly it had a radio. I’d fall asleep to KISS fm playing the hits from 2007 and at that time Float On was still making its rounds on some of the late-night playlists. I’d lay there and cross my fingers hoping Float On would miraculously play next although Chris Brown and other late 00’s R&B would invariably take up the majority of the air time. The real game-changer was when my friend Travis gave me his old iPod shuffle. It too was filled with Justin Timberlake, T.I., and plenty of other stuff I didn’t really care about but most importantly it had the entire album, ‘Good News for People Who Love Bad News’, including Float On. That was when I first heard The World At Large, the second full-length track on the album that serves as a lyrical prelude to Float On. The World At Large introduces an incredible depth and vulnerability of the author that going forward influences the tone of the entire album. Albums like this formed my music taste and even now The World At Large remains one of my favorite songs to keep on repeat. Isaac Brock’s vocals brought something new to indie rock that I still look for when i’m listening to new artists. Some songs, like The World At Large or Blame it On the Tetons, he slurs through as if he’s drunkenly summoning memories. In other songs like Bury Me With It or Dance Hall he accesses an intensity that feels childish varying between falsettos, midrange, or just yelling through inflections. While bands like Modest Mouse may have already lived through their heyday and the album itself is nearing fifteen years old you can still occasionally hear Float On if you turn on the radio.

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