Flying Cup Club Analysis

There are certain things that age well, certain musical things, certain artists that only grow up and re-invent themselves just enough to keep you interested without driving you away. They recycle their trademark aesthetic without leaving you feeling like you bought the same record you bought two years ago.

It seems, after first listen, that Zach Condon’s medi-folk project Beirut could be guilty of the latter. Now, I can see how one would think they could get away with making the same record twice when one is making Mediterranean baroque-folk music. It’s not exactly an over-saturated market, but the solution is also the problem here. There is nothing “tinged” or “influenced” about Condon’s songs. They are straight from the Baltic Sea, directly plucked from Gypsy camps and the like. All this to say, if you’ve bought the band’s previous LP and EP’s, you’re not in for very many surprises.

I realize that I am coming off a little harsh, so let me say: this is truly a great record, the songs are sweeping, grandiose, and well-done, but you’ll have trouble justifying the few short and boring instrumentals, and the songs that begin to run together after the first half of the album. There are exceptions like the percussion-heavy and memorable In The Mausoleum, or the beautifully orchestrated Guyamas Sonora, but overall The Flying Cup Club leaves you wanting a bit more of a change, a little something more. Enthusiastic Beirut fans will get what they pay for, those of us grew a little weary of Gulag Orkestrar after a month or so will probably do the same here. I really do have a love/hate relationship, huh?

Buy The Flying Cup Club at Insound.

[mp3] Beirut – Cliquot
[mp3] Beirut – In The Mausoleum