Bon Iver – Blood Bank Ep (Track by Track review)

How will Bon Iver follow up his critically acclaimed debut “For Emma, Forever Ago”?

1. Blood Bank – 5.0/10 (For some reason this song sounds like a Coldplay song to me.  Maybe because the vocal melody doesn’t float very far from that of Chris Martin.  A basic song that fits in well with the rest of his work, but it really lacks the emotional depth and strain of his debut.  This is the kind of track I think would be a b-side or filler track to a full length, not the title song from an Ep.)
2. Beach Baby – 7.0/10 (More along the lines of what I expected on this ep, this is another hurting  heart/broken heart song that he writes very well.  Basic chord progression strummed on an acoustic and textured with a lonely slide guitar, add a sad vocal melody and you have your standard Bon Iver song.)
3. Baby’s – 5.5/10 (This song begins with a hammered piano line that builds for the first minute and a half, only to become a little repetitious and melt into nothing.  The song is then loosely held together with vocals and sparse piano until the hammering piano starts again to carry the song to its finish.  I felt that at the core there was a great idea here, but instead of taking time to hash it out he kept it basic and the results are a very bland song that sounds unfinished.)
4. Woods – 6.0/10 (This song is built around 4 repeated lines.  The lines are sung through a vocorder and layered for a choral effect which is neat for about two minutes but looses its appeal by the time the song finishes well over four minutes.  This is simple repetition and overdone if you ask me.)

Bottom Line – 5.9/10 This is a really basic bland ep with only one track worth downloading and a few filler songs.  The perfect kind of release to just buy by the song.