Meese

Patrick Meese's friendship with Isaac Slade was handy from a getting-noticed standpoint. But now that Meese's namesake band is receiving the major-label-release treatment, Broadcast will undoubtedly be viewed through a Fray-ed prism — and that brings minuses along with pluses. Heavily pianistic tracks like "Taking the World On" and, especially,...

By Michael Roberts

June 25, 2009

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Patrick Meese's friendship with Isaac Slade was handy from a getting-noticed standpoint. But now that Meese's namesake band is receiving the major-label-release treatment, Broadcast will undoubtedly be viewed through a Fray-ed prism — and that brings minuses along with pluses. Heavily pianistic tracks like "Taking the World On" and, especially, "The Medicine" are perhaps too ready for inclusion in a very special episode of Grey's Anatomy; they stick to a style that's already reached the saturation point without pushing at its limitations. Far more interesting are those cuts with more power in their pop, including the opening "Forward Motion," the driving "Out of the Rubble," and "Next in Line," with its dumb-but-catchy na-na-na-NA-na background vocals. These guys are more than Fray clones. They just need to prove it more often.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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