The Districts “A Flourish and a Spoil” Music Review

By Westin Boland
Music Reviewer

Artist: The Districts
Album: A Flourish and a Spoil
Label: Fat Possum Records
Released: February 10th 2015
Webite: http://thedistrictsband.com/

The Districts A Flourish and a Spoil is a very accurate album title. “4th and Roebling” immediately starts on a high tempo pace and Pat Cassidy pulls off an imitation Albert Hammond Jr. hook, while Rob Grote does his best Julian Casablancas’s eating a microphone impression. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a very likeable combination but it just feels like it’s a lot of energy to keep up for nearly 5 minutes and it feels stretched out.

Many tracks also have a lot of after effect distortion added to give a more powerful presence. Although that works very well on “Hounds,” “Heavy Begs,” and “Young Blood,” it made a lot of other tracks with slower, more varied tempos seem sluggish and repetitive. Just about every track has something to like though, be it a really awesome riff at the 2:10 mark of “Bold” or the little chorus and synth harmony in “Heavy Begs,” I think that’s very indicative of a young band that is more open to changing up their sound.

A lot of this album plays it safe and granted. It should also be noted that The Districts hail from Suburbsville (Lititz), Pennsylvania and most of these songs were written while in high school so “Suburban Smell” gets a little leniency, though I’m still not sure how it snuck onto the final product. Overall I liked it, I think some of the spoils outweigh the flourishes, but the flourishes are really nice. I’m excited to see The District’s next album especially if the lyrics mature a little bit, the pace gets a little tighter, and maybe the title won’t be so easy to pick on.