The Story Of

The Story Of

This Austin-via-Ohio quintet is nothing if not ambitious. From the moniker on down, one gets the sense that the Story Of seeks to translate its arty, home-cooked indie-pop pedigree into an album full of universal meditations on the human condition. Problem is not even U2 can pull off wall-to-wall anthems. Although the band's far-ranging canvas of musical ideas is promising, the ever-present quest for wide resonance actively undermines The World's Affair. The most obvious manifestation of this is an abundance of potentially engaging songs stretched too thin. "EMT" opens on a slow-building wave of tribal thunder that breaks into an uplifting chorus, but the song's power becomes compromised by its overlong running time. The ear-worming horn charts on "Pinwheel" create a refreshing diversion that encapsulates the band's strengths, but "Save US" is a protest song that tries too hard. The end result is not unlike a four-and-out drive in which every play is a Hail Mary pass.