If you our anyone you know has recently ended a relationship of some kind do yourself a favor and avoid Smile Smile's album, Truth On Tape like the plague. The story of a horrible breakup between lovers and bandmates, Truth On Tape is an album of depression, heartache, misery, and a general feeling of malaise. Definitely not the feel good hit of 2010, this is a record that's perfect for the day after Valentines Day. That being said, an album with that kind of warning can only mean one thing...it's awesome.
Telling the tale of Jencey and Ryan and how they met, fell in love, started a band, got engaged and then broke up, Truth On Tape is exactly as it says it is...the truth put on tape. How Smile Smile managed to hold together through all this is beyond me but they managed to hold together long enough to record the album and salvage some sort of working relationship out of the mess that is their life. Sounding like some sort of half sad indie pop band you can almost hear the pain in every one of these songs. These are tunes of the end, of loads of tears, of what Mates of State will sound like if they get a divorce. As grim and bleak as all that might sound, it's actually not at all. Truth be told, the record is absolutely gorgeous and it's almost as if Smile Smile are still so in love with each other that the only way to dodge the issue is to sink their hearts into every song here.
Whatever Smile Smile's hearts are telling them and whatever they do, we the listeners are the beneficiary because the songs are so good and more than anything else are so relatable you can't help but fall for them. Truth On Tape is a break up record pure and simple and it's quite obvious from songs like, "Beg You to Stay," to, "Days Go By," that Smile Smile aren't trying to hide what happened to them in the past. Truth On Tape is the sort of record that will give hope to tons of people because some how, some way no matter how bad the break up is life moves on and for Jencey and Ryan it has, it just so happens that they're still working with each other on a daily basis. Who knows what the future holds for Smile Smile, but after recording such a sad album one can only hope that the next one will be happier...much happier Depression aside, Truth On Tape is a great record of moody indie pop that's as adorable as it is miserable. They may have broken up but you'll be the one with a crush after listening to Truth On Tape.
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