You know those bands whose music you enjoy, but each record sort of sounds the same, just a little fresher?
Well, Cheap Grills is the third LP from Sincere Engineer and it continues exactly as you’d expect from the Deanna Belos led band. The first five seconds of the album feature the lyric, “I’m a walking open wound,” in her trademark grimaced shout. It’s harsh, haunting and blunt. But by the one-minute mark you get more uplifting pop punk with a soaring refrain that reclaims that opening lyric as self-expression rather than sorrow. Belos’ songwriting has a lot to like but a few patterns have developed over the last decade. Simply put, this record sounds exactly like the last two Sincere Engineer records. She continues to balance pain, drama, and humor effortlessly in her vocal delivery, all set to driving and singalong punk melodies. You can hear the frustration (it ain’t subtle) but you can also hear when Belos smirks and laughs too. It’s equally pained and playful.
One of my observations playing through this record on repeat is that there’s a manic sense to several songs. It’s on full display with “Inside My Head,” a song that mixes up the format, and more potently with “Old Coat Pocket.” There’s a pressing uncertainty and anxiety that fits both music and lyrics, but it oozes beyond that. It’s a mood.
Personally, I think the songs of empowerment connect best. “California King” is a pop song complete with vocoder sounds and the general, self-aware silliness of “Fireplace” gives layered context to some of the more over the top lyrics throughout the record. Belos’ delivery is always the star of the show, with some serious pop awareness as she stretches out sounds. In “Library of Broken Bindings” she makes “turn” into a 5-syllable word successfully.
The catch is that we’re at album number three and it’s starting to blend together. At the chorus of “Fireplace” my brain sometimes wants to sing “I’m dying of boredom” (from Bless My Psyche’s “Hurricane of Misery”) instead. As I stated earlier, Sincere Engineer is almost a mood, and that mood is entrenched. Most songs rely on a clever turn of phrase and intense vocal expression more than unique progressions or structures. What I’m saying is that Sincere Engineer’s best songs are great, but I find the albums to be a little too predictable. The first half of Cheap Grills gets me animated, but that slows down by the end. Ultimately, the mastery of the pop format is both the star of the show and also its undoing. I like Cheap Grills, I really do (even if I can’t figure out what the punny title has to do with the material on the record), but it feels like a sequel that’s recycling the plot instead of building continuity.
