Rating:   10 Ratings     12345  

The Submarines Declare a New State Nettwerk Records

      There’s a reason for the old adage never to date someone in your band. Sure, Sonic Youth and the White Strips (we think) pulled it off, but Fleetwood Mac crumbled under its weight and there’s always been that joke about the Libertines, hasn’t there?

      Maybe the problem is simply that hearts are too easily broken, and that the power of music can’t compare to the emotional devastation of the break-up. But in some cases, music is the stronger force, even healing up wounds that once looked too deep to fix. This is the case with Declare a New State, the transcendent debut album from The Submarines - and like any great album, the story behind it is half the fun. The band’s members, Blake Hazard (great-granddaughter of F. Scott Fitzgerald and gifted with an angel’s croon) and John Dragonetti (Musical composer for HBO with a cruelly clear vocal), began their relationship as the band began, and when it fell apart so did they. Separated from each other, they began writing and working in their respective circles, until Blake allegedly returned to John’s studio to record some material. Well, old feelings die hard, and the relationship was rekindled. So think of Declare a New State as Shoot Out the Lights with a happy ending and a hint of light at the end of the tunnel.

      But the specter of heartbreak is all over the album - there may be a bright conclusion but it’s clearly been a long road for this duo. Opener “Peace and Hate” is a Postal Service plea for forgiveness; complete with blips and haunted vocals, and the perfect line “Breaking down could not be cured by breaking up.” On the Sigur-Ros styled “Modern Inventions,” Hazard laments “Darling, I had the best intentions,” and you know that murderous but is waiting just around the corner. “Darkest Things” lets Hazard go all Stevie Nicks on us, giving a desperate demand for a bright spot against the brutality of love.

      But, just as the story ends with the inevitable kiss and fade-out, all is not so bleak. Perhaps “Hope” gives it away, just with its title. But the killer is standout track “Brighter Discontent,” a near-perfect, Stars-gone-country number that decries empty materialism and the futility of trying to buy back happiness. “All these things should make me happy,” Hazard sighs. “Love is not these belongings that surround me - though there’s meaning in the memories they hold.” The best song of the year. True fact. And that’s not counting the Sufjan Stevens-on-despair number “The Conversation” or the dreamy bedroom pop of “Clouds.”

      And, yes, while lyrics like “I saw a silver sun/I wanted it to touch everyone” (“Vote”) are slightly clumsy, the sentiment behind them is surprisingly genuine. “We all know our system’s broken/And I’ll never vote again,” Dragonetti sings. If it all seems like something out of a movie, then you’re missing the point, because this is one of the most honestly, authentically moving albums to come along in a while. Love may tear us apart again, but it’ll put us together, too.

-Emily Tartanella 06/15/06