The Long Winters started up a few years ago after vocalist John Roderick's other project "The Western State Hurricanes" split up. He began writing songs for a solo project and proceeded to go on tour with ex-Harvey Danger member Sean Nelson. Shortly after his tour, he recorded his work, and around the same time, he formed The Long Winters. Before actually getting anything together for this new band, he went on to record his solo work under their name and released the album The Worst You Can Do Is Harm in order to gain a bit more hype for the new album. But due to it's lack of originality, it didn't gain as much attention as he had wanted.
Unlike it's predecessor, When I Pretend To Fall isn't full of mellow ballads of love and loss; it's full of upbeat ballads of love and loss. Content-wise, the album is enough for any frat-boy to take and write a sappy acoustic album from, but it's nothing like that. Each song delves into the world of folk-influenced rock and roll mixed with tambourines, keyboards, and violins giving them an obvious retro feel even more noticeable on the album cover. Also, the guests on the album are definitely notable. Some people that contributed to the album are Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla, American Analog Set's Sean Ripple, Minus5's Scott McCaughey , and Peter Buck of R.E.M.
Although simple, the songs are fun and memorable. "Scared Straight" starts off with some heavy keyboards, which are then followed by horns, some nice keys, and even better harmonies. "Cinnamon" and "Stupid" are both enjoyable guitar-based love songs that are certainly some of the best tracks on the album, mainly because they're so catchy and easy to sing along to. The album also features a few sadder sounding songs that, if they had a tad more keyboard and reverb, could have easily appeared and John's debut (for example, "Blanket Hog" and "Nora"). Another worthy mention is the very upbeat pop-punk track "Prom Night At Hater High" which almost doesn't fit the album, but does somehow, thanks to the band's wonderful musicianship.
Overall, the album is a big change from it's former, but the change is definitely not a disappointment. The group have successfully made a big leap from their somewhat mediocre debut, and started with something fresh. Their blend of well-crafted, upbeat, fun, yet mature songs are more than worth the listen.
