After a self-release in 2003 when the band were just a two piece, comprising brothers Ryan and Hays Holladay, this is first official album from the now four-membered Washington-raised, Brooklyn-based band The Epochs.And a pretty uninspiring debut it is too. To my ears (which, having googled a few other bloggers’ enthusiastic reviews I am beginning to think must function differently from the norm), the whole thing just exuded a sort of insipid sense of lethargy and ”“ frankly ”“ boredom. Mid-paced semi-funky track follows mid-paced semi-funky track, with little discernable difference; each seeming to merge into the next. Lyrics are fairly difficult to make out, due to the vocal delivery (which I’ll come back to”¦), but those that I could hear seemed of the “general non-specific platitude” school of writing, such as “She’s my water, milk and bread” from opening track 'Thunder and Lightning', or “You want a love complete / You want the taste that’s so sweet” from ”“ guess what ”“ 'Love Complete'. But even when the lyrics, at least, seem to step up a pace and want to convey a sense of drama, as in 'Mouths to Feed' (“No escaping” ”¦ “You can gnash your teeth”) still, musically, no urgency or matching drama is found.Perhaps part of the problem for me here is that I did not bond with the vocal stylings of the brothers Holladay. Switching between bland FM-Radio AOR delivery and a horribly insipid falsetto that can only be described as the bastard offspring of one of the Bee Gees and Green from Scritti Politti, their delivery infused the whole album with a sense of blandness and ”“ oddly ”“ also a sense of inauthenticity, as if the singing style and therefore somehow by extension the subject matter as well, music, and lyrics, were being faked rather than coming from the heart.Another irritant is the sense that each track outstays its welcome, and goes on for about 2 minutes longer than its natural length, repeating choruses, couplets, or just slowly petering out.But let’s try to find some positives: okay ”“ 'Thunder and Lightning', 'Right On' and 'Giving Tree' feature interesting, tricksy and experimental-sounding drum riffs which I enjoyed”¦ The vocal on 'Picture of the Sun' sounds at its warmest, and therefore is the most likeable track I encountered”¦ Umm”¦ 'Heads in the Fire' is kind of pretty, in a forgettable acoustic way. Ultimately, however, these sparse pleasures were only uncovered by some pretty determined rootling around, and had I not been committed to reviewing this album for TLOBF, I doubt I would have listened long enough to identify them. 40%Links The Epochs [myspace] [official site]