Let’s start with the bad news. At 15 tracks and 63 minutes, The Telecast’s first full length album Time Spent Lost is a lot to digest in one sitting. Sure, artists can squeeze over an hour of music onto one disc – nearly eighty minutes worth of music if they’re feeling especially ambitious – but sometimes it’s preferable to hit people hard with the best material and leave them wanting more.
Now, the good news – most of the music on Time Spent Lost is quite good. Kicking off with the heavy riff rocker “No One Likes This City,” The Telecasts grab listeners by the ear and do their darnedest to hold their attention for 60+ minutes. For the most part, they’re successful – tracks such as “Just Because It Makes You Happy Doesn’t Mean It’s Right” and “Complex Partial” contain meaty, Detroit-styled hooks, while “Ain’t It Wrong” and “One More Peg” are complex psychedelic pieces that belie the band’s age. Eric Ringuette’s attitude drenched vocals complement Corey Bonnevie’s frenetic guitar playing and Alex Laskey’s aggressive drumming, indicating the band has spent considerable time honing its sound before committing it to tape. Very impressive.
Time Spent Lost isn’t a perfect album – there are a few awkward lyrical moments, and I’d probably lose the slow-paced “Same Place” in order to get the album under the hour mark – but the issues are minimal in comparison to the quality of the product. The songs are solid, the performances are sound, and the recording makes me want to go see the band live. Definitely one of the best rock discs to come from Saint John in the last few years.
