Words Are Often Not Enough
by Cruel Smile

From DommeDamian 06/19/2026 13:27 | #314969

60/100. Cruel Smile is a Dayton Ohio duo, consisting of vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Owen Radford and drummer Luke Grossmann. To my knowledge, these songs were written a few years ago in Owen's britpop phase, and now they're here. Here are my unfiltered, harsh, thoughts on it all.

Cons
The production:
My biggest gripe and takeaway for not enjoying the whole album as much as I should is the lo-fi production. And not because I dislike lo-fi music (I quite fucking love it), but these songs do not sound good in their low quality, nor are they actually even written for this type of aesthetic. When I listen to Not Like Candy , Sunny Street and She's So Clean, I am disappointed that the arrangements aren't as clear sounding, so I can invest myself more in them emotionally. Outside from the middle section+outro of Dirge, I could never hear the bass. The album's source of inspirations like Blur knew when they needed a song to sound amateurish and surreal and when it needed to be hi-fi to the sky. These tracks on Words Are Often Not Enough scream for last mentioned, which again, makes it feel a bit like lost potential when I hear them sounding almost like a poor live band recording. My suggestion if the band wants to keep a bit of lo-fi elements, listen to some albums in genre of Paisley Underground, you might find a sweet spot in albums like Days of Wine & Roses (by Dream Syndicate) or Emergency Third Rail Power Trip (by The Rain Parade).

The singing:
Maybe it's because of the way the songs are supposed to be performed, but Owen just cannot sing in the register he tries to. When he tries to go the Stephen Malkmus-route on tracks like Camidine etc, it sounds like an older brother singing his little brother's hate-song mockingly. Unrefined. As soon as he attempts to reach his higher notes, it gets difficult to listen to. It feels like his voice is too scared to come off as whiny, but it would honestly sound more "rock'n'roll"-ish if he let those pipes out (matter of fact, the one time it's listenable is the "to my toes" line at the end of Intermission Song, because he lets loose for just a moment). But either a vocal coach is very needed, or the songs needs to be sung an octave lower. Or hire a third member to do the high notes harmonically. Or lower the impact of the voice's role in the mix (a la Suede or or The Strokes). The tolerable moments are where he sings as pedestrian (think Damon Albarn or David Berman-style) as possible, like the cool verses on The Replusive Mr Truth II, chorus of Big Richard, the second slacker indie segment of She's So Clean , Not Like Candy's intro and verses, the first chorus of Ghost Girl 1995, the traditional rockisms throughout Descending Into Heaven until the last minute, and ESPECIALLY the acoustic pauses like the outro of Repulsive Mr Truth I. However, Owen finally finds his delivery and the pitch that suits him, at the last 3 minutes of the album, the amazing hidden track I'm Not A Man, truly my favorite song here.

The lyrics/songwriting:
The two problems about this are the fact that (again, going back to the lo-fi production), I can barely hear 90% of what is sung by Owen, and when I do hear it sometimes, the words chosen are either not amazing or too many. It's a shame cause I see the descriptors like death and paranormal, and I want to hear more, but I cannot. Speaking as a songwriter, keep the melodies and see which lyrics come out just by the waviness of 'em. E.g. the beginning of Intermission Song does wonders upon wonders, but when all the instrumentation comes in, it's like the lines limper a bit.

Pros
The guitar-playing:
Owen's guitar work shines of diversity in sounds across the board, and pretty much all of the patterns are well-purposed and in key. Sometimes there are two guitars layered on top of each other, but they don't cancel each other out, which is thumbs up. Whatever his voice is doing, Owen was literally born to play those notes. When I sometimes thought the guitar was swinging in quality (e.g. the passages on Descending Into Heaven or the musichall-inspired bridge of Sunny Street), three seconds later that annoyance was turned around. If you're listening for britpop and lighthearted slacker rock reasons, trust in these guys, they know what they're doing.

The drumming:
Believe it or not, Luke kills it too with his impeccable drumming as well. Not only does he have extraordinary timing, both in tempo and volume, but knows what type of passion that Owen's guitar expresses and follows along like a loyal buddy. When the guitar (and actually all the instrumentation) is the engine, his drumming is the wheels.

The arrangement:
At first, the arrangements might sound a bit pale, but don't get fooled. Cause, if you ask me, Words Are Often Not Enough is a backloaded album. After the first few conventional slacker rock songs, the boys law their guards down and take some left turns that feels more jammy. Just look at the song lengths. The first glimpse we see are the sweet keyboard line on She's So Clean before it then stops and gets even sluggier (and better) and almost picks up the hill again in a very natural way. When Sunny Street has made its pop appearance, a relaxed saxophone and nice string joins the wave (former it comes back on Big Richard, the latter in I'm Not A Man) and then later an unbelievable acid jazz-pop segment. And of course, the big dog closer Dirge that takes influence from not only britpop, but also 60s psychedelic rock and even 00s indie surf. All in all, the instrumental balance is one of Cruel Smile's calling cards.

The melodies:
You'll know from the first second of Camidine that Owen and Luke got the old-fashioned melodies in check, and Words Are Often Not Enough is a jungle of 'em. As much as, again, the singing isn't good on Girl of The Week, the catchiness of both verses, riff, and chorus, are good. Other stand-outs are the tragedic overtones of I'm Not A Man , Ghost Girl 1995 that even take inspiration from Built To Spill's wheelhouse, the awesome Cure-lick on Repulsive Mr. Truth I, the Beatles/Kinks/Blur clash on Sunny Street, all the small twinkles in Dirge, the surprising nostalgia of Intermission Song (Owen has not let his skills for nostalgia-melodywriting from Get To The Point go to waste). Oh, almost forgot, the supremeness coming through in Not Like Candy, as that riff is delightful (combined with the song topic, THAT is good songwriting).
Even in the weak spots of the record, you just sense that Owen has studied the beloved genres of his.

The sequencing:
From the pop rock and common intervals of the first half to the field recordings of walking and bars in the second half, the album perhaps couldn't have been sequenced better. Made by a guy who you can be sure has listened to a lot of albums and not just singles, the tracks flow pretty excellently. Putting the second Repulsive Mr Truth before the first was especially a good move, cause II have the instantaneousness that fits the beginning, while the Silver Jews-rhythm of I makes of a good deep cut. And although it's 69 minutes, the flow makes it seem more like 49.

The album cover:
I love apes. Though it looks more compilation-ish than album-ish, I don't really care.

Generally, despite my criticisms, I still consider Words Are Often Not Enough an interesting debut record. Interesting in both how it features damn strong advantages and damn disadvantages, and also interesting in seeing how it will impact the band's future, which I'll follow. (Edited)