Album Review: "Amusement Park" by Transportation

Amusement Park was released on Odessa Records on October 12

Transportation are a band out of Chapel Hill that takes an intriguing spin on the traditional indie rock sound, but not in the way you'd expect.  Transportation have the same crunch and distortion as all of the other bands, but their vocal melodies and guitar solos give the feel of a classic rock band.  The way that the band intertwines the two sounds makes for a very individual sound that you don't see in many of the other bands around the area.



Transportations sophomore album, "Amusement Park", is very aptly titled.  Much of the album has the nostalgic feel of remembering your youth through songs like the incredibly catchy title track that opens the album, "Amusement Park".  If it tells you anything the opening lines are "Little darling remember this, you had to babysit so we went to the amusement park", if that doesn't reek of your teenage years then I don't know what does.  Other carefree sounding songs that ponder upon the days of old are sprawled about throughout the album whether it be found in a slower song like "Pool Parties" or one of the albums standouts, "Danni".  The pacing of the album was excellent though, and that needs to be emphasized.  The way the band's slower songs were placed conveniently amongst all of the anthemic tracks allows for a smooth transition throughout the album and one that keeps you thoroughly entertained throughout the duration of your listen.

Transportation's classic rock feel is what keeps the album going though.  Songs like "Love On The Ground" feel like they could have come out decades ago, yet it doesn't feel aged in the least.  However, for the detractors of classic rock that feel that this sound could stray them away from Transportation, don't let it.  "Amusement Park" is an album that's got quite a few great songs on it that you'll find yourself singing or humming throughout the day, waiting to go back and listen to it again just to get it out of your head.  While the middle parts of the album drop off a little bit, the tenacity of the songs in the beginning and the end more than make up for it.  All in all, Amusement Park is a good album that features plenty of catchy hooks that can pick you up from whatever place you may be and throw you right back into those summer days that you can't forget from your youth.