Track Listing

1. Gentle Preservation of Children's Minds
2. She's Not Shy
3. Jen, Nothing Matters to Me
4. Death in the Garden, Blood on the Flowes
5. I'll Write the Song, You Sing for Me
6. Longest Day in the Afternoon
7. Situation
8. I Want to Love You in My Room
9. Care, I Don't Care
10. If You Say Jump, I Will Say No
11. Lovely, Just Like Her
12. Hard to Breathe
13. Look of Flowers That Are Looked At

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #114691 in Music
• Released on: 2006-04-04
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Customer Reviews

Getting there
Decent indie-pop driven by steady drum beats, catchy guitar riffs, and the occasional well placed keyboard. Although most songs are mediocre at worst, there are a few gems that outshine the rest and make it worth a few listens. They sound A LOT like Beulah (point in case: track 7, Situation). You can definitely hear the potential, perhaps their next album will bring it all together.

Recommended tracks:
#7 Situation - Their first single, amazingly catchy drum beat and vocals. Very sing-a-longy.
#4 Death in the Garden, Blood on the Flowers - The bass line makes this song what it is, along with the amazing clapping.
#8 I Want to Love You in My Room - Another bass driven song, which is always good.
#1 The Gentle Preservation of Children's Minds - A little slower than the other songs, but nonetheless good. Very catchy guitar riff.

Great summer record
I'm not sure how I first came across Irving, perhaps it was the LA Times review which describe this album as the Beach Boys meets Alfred Hitchcock . . . To my ear, it sounds like Joy Division meets the Beach Boys with a pinch of Beatles, but I've also seen them compared to the Shins.

Irving is a collective, in the true sense of the word--there is no frontman--vocal and songwriting duties are shared by at least three different people--this lends an eclectic and interesting kind of order to the record. My favorite tracks are "She's Not Shy," "Jen" and "If You Say Jump"--but the entire album is good (and they're even better if you have the chance to catch them live!)

The best band in existence if you love great pop music
I first heard Irving a few years ago at the Noise Pop Festival, and they skyrocketed to my favorite band overnight. I catch their show every time they play in town, and they are consistently fun, energetic and the music is just beyond catchy.

It's so rare to find a band where every single song is consistently great, but somehow Irving pulls it off. I cannot give a higher recommendation for this band and this album. Every person I've played it for has been hooked, even those who "don't like the bands today." Do yourself a really big favor and check out any of the Irving albums, and try to catch a live show if at all possible. You won't be disappointed! Frankly I'm shocked they haven't become as famous as Death Cab or Belle & Sebastian. If you like either of those bands, Beulah, The Aislers Set or The New Pornographers, you'll love Irving.

There's definitely a Beach Boys meets the Beatles influence, with incredible musical hooks and a modern indie pop sensibility. I can hardly wait for the next album!