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Fiction Plane - Left Side of the Brain Review


by Dan Upton

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It's sort of appropriate that I would do a review of Fiction Plane around the antiVersary, given the first review. That was, of course, Big Dume's Inside My Head, fronted by the son of songwriter and record producer, wherein I raised the question of how relevant pedigree was to musical ability. Here we have that question again; in this case, Fiction Plane front man Joe Sumner is the son of none other than Gordon Sumner, better known as Sting. The circumstances are a little different for this CD, though: whereas Inside My Head was the band's debut CD and was promoted alongside a "reality" TV show starring the front man, Left Side of the Brain is the third studio recording and second full-length album from a band that's been around since 2000.

Incidentally, the pedigree shows through here as well, at least in Joe's vocals on many of the songs. It's perhaps not as noticeable on opening track "Anyone," but after hearing tracks like "Death Machine" and lead single "Two Sisters" I had to go look at the liner notes to make sure Sting wasn't doing guest vocals on the song. And hey, don't get me wrong, I like a lot of Sting's music, and the style fits very well in Fiction Plane's music rather than feeling forced to try to draw attention to themselves. Speaking of which, I really hate to use such a generic term, but really the best way I can categorize the music is just as alternative rock, or maybe alternative rock and jangle pop. It definitely has those sorts of jangly guitar sounds, on tracks like "Anyone" or "Death Machine." Songs like "It's a Lie" and "Presuppose" have licks that evoke The Police and older U2, although parts of "Presuppose" are also driven by a guitar riff that wouldn't sound out of place on a Cake album. Funky grooves also abound, frequently driven by the bass, on songs like "Death Machine" (yes, I've mentioned it three times now; yes, I like it a lot) or the darker groove of "Running the Country." Incidentally though, the high point of the CD is the stripped-down "Drink," consisting almost only of acoustic guitar and emotional, introspective vocals for most of the song.

Judging from the similarity in vocal styles, it would be easy to criticize this band as trying to ride on Sting's success to further their own career, but one listen should be enough to convince you of the strength of this band on their own merits. Unfortunately, they're on their third label, so it's any one's guess whether they'll be supported well enough to really continue on and get the attention they deserve. Such as it is, this is catchy alternative rock at its finest, and if you want a break from cookie-cutter emo, Nickelback clones, and generic indie music (a whole 'nother rant in itself), run out and pick this one up. You won't be disappointed.


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Fiction Plane - Left Side of the Brain
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