Sightseer "What Tomorrow Brings"

Independent, 2012

Run of the mill roots rock

• A Seattle band, Sightseer are fronted by singer PA Mathison and play a fairly generic form of alt-country rock. Think of the more gung ho side of the Cowboy Junkies and you might have an inkling of what they sound like.

• While Mathison has an attractive voice, full throated or tender as required, she is let down by the lack of memorable tunes on display here.  With an emphasis on guitars and keyboards the band perform capably but as one listens song after song bleeds into each other with few standing out to engage attention. A rather flat production does them no favours either, despite some interesting moments here and there. 'Patsy Cline' slows the tempo and allows Mathison’s lyrics room to breathe while 'Athabasca' is an attractive and mostly acoustic based ballad which grows on one.

  The acoustic side of the band features again on the last song 'Biggest Storms' and it’s plain to hear that on record Sightseer are capable of some sublime sounds when they sit back and relax. Overall however this delicacy is lost amongst the generic roots rockers, and while these might please the home crowd at local gigs they don’t stand up well when listening at home.