Thank You // The Little Heroes

“Say I’ll Be gone”
This entire song is a build up. Each instrument is added at a separate time. It starts out with a keyboard and the vocals, adding in bass which is followed quickly by the guitar and drums. Add in some ‘ba ba’s  and you’ve got me hooked. (I am such a sucker for background vocals sometimes!) I love how the added instruments make it pick up the pace after the first chorus. Complementing the build up, singer James Lombardo starts singing louder on the second verse. One of my favourite lines in this song is “we must know what keeps us coming back to where we started from.”

“We’ll All Get To An End”
This is a very upbeat song. The bass somehow takes the spotlight while lying low and letting the drums and guitar work together. This song reminds me so much of The Junior Varsity. (Around 1:33 on the vocals and 1:55 on the guitar I had to Google it and make sure that there weren’t members of TJV in The Little Heroes!) The line “sitting still for all of us…” is a dead ringer for Asa Dawson’s vocals on the album Cinematographic.

“Common Ground”
Not a strong song on the album in my opinion. It’s pleasant, though, with the guitar mirroring the vocals. I do love hearing a more vulnerable side of Lombardo’s vocal range with the higher pitched “ooh”s that are beautiful from this deep and almost raspy voiced guy.  This song has a much stronger end than beginning which makes it an enjoyable track.

“On Your Way”
The bridge saves this song. Beautiful vocals and guitar melody with “here we are…” and its harmonies. This gets heavier at the bridge and makes it more enjoyable, along with the bass really coming in toward the end. I wish the ending were less abrupt.

“Back Where You Came From”
This song is a great kind of slow. I feel like I’ve heard the same story told by other songs, but I still enjoy it. It’s a beautifully sad song, but it could have used some quiet drums.

“What You Wanted”
”Standing there in line, impressions of the time you thought you had are slowly fading. Pretending you don’t mind the things you said you wanted in life are slowly fading,” more beautifully sad lyrics. Simple piano and vocals for the first few lines help add to the mood. Guitar, bass, and drums come in together. This song has one of my favourite bass and guitar melodies on the album. I found myself thinking, ‘wow, these are some really solid musicians.’ “What you wanted…to be” is sung beautifully, higher and loud.

“Thank You”
Back to the upbeat! A fun little guitar melody to tap your toes to. “You’re an angel and your words cause little earthquakes,” is an awesome lyric. (Musicians, feel free to write a song about me… just saying…) This song has a great drum beat reminiscent of the title song from the movie That Thing You Do.

“Postcards Sent West”
This is my favorite song on the album. The lines “words you could not speak… maybe too quiet, you’ve holding back now when you shouldn’t” have a great melody and the guest vocals by Sarah Ziebarth (I believe) perfectly complement James Lombardo’s voice.

Bottom Line: This is one of my personal favourite albums and I believe this guys are going far.