Short-Term Memories

Short-Term memories was released in 2000 as "The Salteens"'s first studio album under the record label "Endearing Records". All of the songs are pretty short, averaging at about 2 minutes.

Short-Term Memories: 7.5/10

Kelly Nicoll

This one's alright. I like the usage of trumpets, and the drums are groovy. Not that much to write home about, but a little better than average. 6.5/10

Bubba Da

This is probably one of my favorites on the album. When the distorted guitar kicks in it makes me really happy. I really appreciate how dynamic the song is overall. 7/10

The Best Thought

Compared to the other songs on the album, this song's pretty relaxed, which I'm not actually a huge fan of. I just wish there was a little more instrumental focus in the song. 5/10

Crash the Market

This one's pretty good. I like the synth melody and the rhythm is pretty solid. 7/10

Culture

Another example of excellent dynamics on the album. The drums are are excellent, as well as all of the other instruments that come in and out as the song builds up and pays off. 8/10

Guy Dog

This song's perfectly fine, but it leaves a little bit to be desired. I kept waiting for a chorus or meaningful payoff, but it just ended up being a little repetetive. That being said, the song is still pretty good. 7/10

Caught at the Cusp

This song is also alright, but not my favorite. I do like the swing and the offbeats, as well as the trumpet(?) part, but not enough to make me go out of my way to listen to this song. 6.5/10

show stopper

This song feels like if weezer made good music. At first I wasn't roped in by the "woohoo hoohoo", but some of the vocal harmonies are pretty tasty. 7/10

Emptyhead

I have a soft spot for chiptunes and synthetic instruments mixed with live drums, so instrumentally this song sounds really good to me. But I feel like this song has way better potential that it falls short of because of the vocals. I dunno, just kinda reminds me more of the smiths than a good rock band. 7.5/10

Nice Day

This song is how I found out about The Salteens. It's pretty simple chord progression-wise but I absolutely love the vocals and the harmonies created with the trumpet parts near the end. The drums are also pretty good. It sounds like it could've been turned into a generic pop song, but everything about it is just really well done, I only wish it was longer. 8/10

Overall this album is pretty decent. Theres plenty of bland pop-ness, but I feel like this album shows that The Salteens isnt just another bland pop band. There's some real creativity that does shine through in a lot of the songs, and the band definitely knows how to create some really good music. And the drums are amazing on every song that allows them to shine (e.g. Nice Day, Bubba Da). Nice Day and Bubba Da have to be my two favorites on the album, not just because of the drums, but because they add up to more than their sum of their parts.