Maximum Balloon is not a band, it is a project by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio. Besides TV on the Radio he's made a name for himself recently for some of his production work, like the latest Yeah Yeah Yeahs album.
This project is about Sitek as producer. What he has done on the album is crafted a song and a sound around a series of featured singers. Many of these types of albums I think fail because either they have no coherence or because they do not take advantage of the talents on loan. In this sense this album is a success. From one track to the next it definitely has a coherent sound, and it also molds that sound to highlight the strength of each singer.
Where I would say the album falls short is the dark tone that flows throughout. If you take the opening track "Groove Me" as a template to build from, think of this as a mix tape, then Sitek chooses to take the darker components of this song and move in that direction. Like I said this works as a whole because it keeps coherence as you move through the ten track album, but it also creates a sound that is a bit dark and moody which wears a bit heavy over time.
Of course there is nothing wrong with dark and moody, but it does mean the album is a bit of a select listen. You definitely have to be in the right mood to throw this album on. I could see throwing this on at night with a group of friends over for coffee and conversation, or for a night drive to the beach after a long week at work.
Following the Rhapsody rating method I give it 3 out of 5 stars for Pretty Good.
based on this song, i would expect the next several songs on the album to be pretty upbeat. sounds like they probably aren't. but i do like this song ok.
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