Superheaven – Ours Is Chrome

Dennis: When the promo of Superheaven – Ours Is Chrome hit our mailbox it didn’t ring a bell. At first. It took me a while to realise I should be interested in this album, because Superheaven was once called Daylight. And Daylights album Jar is an album that I still hold dear. How about you, Pim, we agreed pretty much on that album when it came out, are you still in to it as much as you were then?

Pim: I still love that album. I played that to death in 2013. I have to admit that I can’t remember putting it on this year yet though, but yeah still stand by our review back then. Great album. As for the name change, can I say I really don’t like the name “Superheaven”? Guess I just did.

Dennis: After listening to this album a couple of times I am happy to conclude that the change in name in no way inspired them to change their sound. They are still doing what they did so well on Jar. In other words, the 90’s influences are still abundant and Silverchair would still be a good point of reference for their sound. Which is a good thing, ’cause that’s why we loved Daylight so much. Do you feel the band is stagnant for doing what they are good at?

Pim: Generally I’m not a big fan of bands making the same album over and over again, but that’s mostly because the quality will go downhill or it starts to feel like a ‘trick’. But bands should totally do what they want to do. “Feel it’s right, go out and do it”, right? But you said they didn’t change their sound? Really? It does feel like “Ours Is Chrome” is more mellow though? Even more mid-tempo. Or is that just me?

Dennis: No, you’re not alone in that. There’s more mid-tempo songs on here. That is perhaps the biggest difference between the two albums. Their debut was a bit more leveled out, with more diversity among the songs. To me this not a big deal though. I think the songs themselves are strong enough to keep me interested the whole album. I like the small details in songs. Guest vocals in Leach for example. Or the tempo change halfway the same song. This makes it my favorite song on the album.

Pim: I’m afraid those small details don’t do it for me. The whole album kinda sounds like one long dragged out song. Maybe I need to give it some more spins, for now I’m a bit underwhelmed actually. Maybe my expectations were too high? I mean, it’s not a bad record at all, but it has nowhere near the impact “Jar” had on me. Do you think it’s a step forward for them?

Dennis: Well, not necessarily a step forward, but it’s not like they let me down really. So as a matter of fact, yes, perhaps your expectations were too high. I did not expect them to make that big step forward, I’m happy with them keeping their momentum. Something that stayed the same on this album compared to their debut is the massive production. The album sounds massive! Oh, and again I’m not a big fan of the artwork. What’s your thoughts on those issues?

Pim: Have to agree with you there, the production sounds great once again. And I do like the artwork. Reminds me a bit of that Cold World artwork.

Dennis: They did that also on their debut, artwork that reminds you a lot of other artwork. I like that. Let’s wrap things up, how do you feel about the album? Earlier I said I would be happy if they could keep their momentum. I think they did a great job at that but I agree with you on the lack of diversity on the album. I’d reward it with a slightly lower score than their debut: 85 points should do.

Pim: I don’t know, I kinda was hoping I was liking this more, but I’m afraid I just don’t. I’ll give it 70 points. Maybe it will grow on me. But hey, if this record did one thing (so far), it made me put on ‘Jar’ again. Never a bad thing. And I have to give em kudos for the video below.

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