The Tall Ships are Steve Kuhn, Kyle Cornwell and Keith Andrew and they come from the good old US of A. I tell you that so you know who they are and to prove that I do occasionally read a press release. And the reason I actually read the press rerelease? Curiosity, for with “On Tariffs & Discovery”, The Tall Ships have given us an interesting album.
Not entirely devoid of art rock pretensions, the music contained therein is nonetheless intriguing and interesting. There are times when The Tall Ships nearly fall into the bad habits of seventies European rock bands – “Sharks Teeth Under Glass”, for example – and times when they steer a course dangerously close to drugged out shoegaze territory (“Call Confessions”) but they always save the day by displaying that they understand dynamics. Power chords are great but they lose all impact when they are all that you can do. The Tall Ships can do so much more counterpointing the volume with drifting, mellow vocal interludes and offbeat structures with probably the best example of their mix of melody and purpose being “All New Lows”.
“On Tariffs & Discovery” clearly shows that The Tall Ships are the kind of band that applies discipline to the development of their musical ideas with the end result being a mature album that you can return to time and time again. It might not be rock madness but it is a very smart way of staying right on course.