Album Review: The Spill Canvas - No Really, I’m Fine

In the opening track of their new album No Really, I’m Fine, The Spill Canvas’s Nick Thomas sings, “I’m not concerned with pleasing all those little pricks and their little scenes”. Well, he may be pleasantly surprised, because No Really, I’m Fine is well crafted and destined to please most who listen. With most alternative bands that come out today, generally those classified as emo and punk, they play the same song over and over again. The Spill Canvas is smarter than that and far too talented to let themselves do that.

The first single, “All Over You” begins with a riff like Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone”, but as the song picks up, the tempo does so as well. It’s a suitable first single with major potential to break into the Top 40. “Saved”, a song originally recorded for the Superman Returns Soundtrack, was re-recorded with Andrew McMahon of Jack’s Mannequin and Something Corporate on keys. “Saved” is a catchy power ballad, but it sounds pretty typical from today’s alternative bands.

“Connect The Dots” is a low tempo song about getting some lovin’. It is a song that sticks out because of its drum machine beat and slow and low feel. Closing out the album is “Lullaby”. Nick Thomas plays an acoustic guitar backed by strings to sing an honest and heartfelt song about singing the one he loves to sleep. The harmonies are perfect and the orchestration adds a lot.

All in all, nothing new from The Spill Canvas, but that is far from a bad thing considering their previous work. Nick Thomas began The Spill Canvas by himself, and with a full band and a great catalog of songs behind them, the sky is the limit. However, the sad part is they also have the potential to be overlooked.

{Reviewed by: Matt Chesley}