Rules is the second and final album by indie pop band The Whitest Boy Alive. It was recorded in Punta Burros Nayarit, Mexico, where the band was staying to rest after a long tour. In early 2009, Australian radio station Triple J named Rules their feature album of the week.
The track "1517" was featured in FIFA 10, the video game by EA Sports. This would be the last material the members of the band would record together until the 2020 release of the non-album single "Serious".
Erlend Øye was responsible for a couple of the more quietly influential releases of the early 2000s -- the Kings of Convenience's wispily gentle, prophetically titled debut Quiet Is the New Loud and his affable, microhouse-popularizing DJ-Kicks set, not to mention his fine vocal contributions to Röyksopp's early singles -- all thoroughly excellent if hardly earth-shattering work.
In the latter part of the decade, though, his output and impact seemed sadly diminished as he lapsed into a middling, milquetoast groove as frontman for the smooth pop outfit the Whitest Boy Alive.
The group's second outing is, like everything Øye touches, never less than pleasant, poppy, and unfailingly polite.
And his Berlin-based bandmates know their way around a nimble lite-funk strut as well as anyone (Maroon 5 come to mind, as do Phoenix in their more straightforward moments).
Newly official member Daniel Nentwig, in particular, offers some tastily chunky electric piano tidbits; his presence on every track (as opposed to only two) helps make this a fuller-sounding affair than the band's debut, as well as somewhat more kinetic. And Øye's croon is as golden as ever, gliding through his earnestly considered reflections on ill-fated relationships.
But sound is one thing and spirit another, and the album feels, on the whole, more tired than inspired.
A handful of marginal highs aside (the minor urgency of "Courage," the fluid sobriety of "Gravity"), it's hard to shake the feeling that Rules would be a lot more satisfying if it broke a few more. [Rules Review by K. Ross Hoffman]
Track listing
1. Keep a Secret - 4:08
2. Intentions - 3:39
3. Courage - 4:23
4. Timebomb - 3:44
5. Rollercoaster Ride - 2:40
6. High on the Heels - 3:20
7. 1517 - 3:41
9. Promise Less or Do More - 4:18
10. Dead End - 3:23
11. Island - 7:04
Personnel
- Erlend Øye – guitar, vocals
- Daniel Nentwig – Fender Rhodes piano, Crumar synthesizer
- Marcin Öz – bass; response vocal on "Gravity"
- Sebastian Maschat – drums
- D. Todorova – response vocal on "Gravity"
- S. Rubi – response vocal on "Gravity"
Companies, etc.
- Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Bubbles Records
- Copyright © – Bubbles Records
- Made By – Arvato Digital Services – 53520223
- Recorded At – Glass Cube Studio
- Recorded At – Funkhaus-Studio
- Mixed At – Villa Qrella
- Mastered At – Calyx Mastering
Credits
- Artwork – Geoff McFetridge
- Mastered By – Bo Kondren
- Mixed By – Norman Nitzsche
- Songwriter [All Songs Written By], Performer, Recorded By, Producer – The Whitest Boy Alive
Recorded at Glass Cube Studio Nayarit/Mexico 2007 and Funkhaus Berlin 2008.
Mixed at Villa Qrella Berlin Pankow.
Mastered at Calyx.
The chorus of courage is inspired by "Push Push" by Rockers Hi-Fi.
Mixed at Villa Qrella Berlin Pankow.
Mastered at Calyx.
The chorus of courage is inspired by "Push Push" by Rockers Hi-Fi.
Notes
Released: March 30, 2009
Genre: Indie pop, dream pop
Length: 44:08
Producer: The Whitest Boy Alive
Label - Bubbles
