If you imagine a very poppy Weezer crossed with Incubus, made just for radio, you’ve basically got The Flow. Vocalist/guitarist/songwriter/all round good egg, Aaron Berkson, has made a record which will probably have infested radio and television worldwide by the end of 2002. But that doesn’t mean it’s good. What ‘Dada’ is, is a very good pop record. If you like Sugar Ray, then you’ll like this. If you don’t like your music warm, thoughtful and very hummable, then this won’t be for you.
Kicking off with ‘Disposable Hero’, it has a very Beatles-esque feel to it. It’s slow yet irritatingly catchy with an organ screeching its way through the verses. And the chorus is simple yet annoyingly hummable, so much so that if it was renamed ‘Disposable Pop’ it would be very apt. It’s clearly written with radio in mind and it’s a great pop song, but don’t expect it to win any awards for originality anytime soon. With ‘Dada Dada’ the use of the turntable gives it a bit of an Incubus feel, but it’s far too mellow to be a Brandon Boyd song. Still, it’s likeable enough, even if the word ‘risk’ isn’t in The Flow‘s vocabulary.
‘Grey’ uses strings to bring out some colour into the song. There’s so much going on within each song that it is easy to fall in and become absorbed. There’s kind of a foreign feel to it too, and again you’ll be unconciously humming along by the end. ‘Boy’ continues the one-man show with Aaron proving he can sing, but it plods along a bit too much for my liking. ‘Slidewhistle [Interlude]’ is possibly the most pointless 20 seconds ever, so the less said about that the better.
‘Written All Over’ has a weird jazz/blues hybrid thing going on, and is really kind of strange. It’s not punk, it’s not emo, it’s…well, I really am lost for words. It’s damn original though, I’ll tell you that. ‘Doctor Tomorrow’ goes back to the more poppy sides, but it’s unfortunately very skippable. ‘Blue Helmets’ sounds a hell of a lot like REM. Average REM. Again, it’s not that bad, just it’s not that good either. ‘Take Me Away’ is a lot warmer and although it borders on easy listening, this would probably sound really good if you could kick back and soak up the rays on some deserted beach. As I look outside we have about three inches of snow, and it still manages to raise a slight warm glow. I think that says something…
‘O Li Le’ uses a combination of instruments to make an interesting sound, but I don’t really think it suits the tone of the record. And it sounds like Sting, which isn’t a good thing, unless he is fronting The Police again of course. ‘You Can Hear It’ is much better, back to the basic style of songwriting which serves Aaron so well on this record and ‘Ode To Michael Jordan’, which is a really bad idea for a song, is ok.
The Flow have certainly played it safe with ‘Dada’. It’s impossible to hate this record, but at the same time it’s difficult to fall in love with it. There’s no doubting Aaron Berkson’s talent, but I don’t think this will prove to be his best work. If the band finally decide what direction they want to go in, whether it’s writing bona fide anthems, or dabbling in Middle Eastern arts, they will be all the better for it. It’s not something I would buy, but what I will bet on is that this lot blow up and become one of the biggest bands in America during 2002. But that doesn’t mean they’re great…
Paul Savage