The Canadian band The Zolas’ new album, Ancient Mars, offers an intriguing blend of modern pop, classical rhythms, and 90s rock. The album’s ten tracks are polished and its sound is soulful, but Ancient Mars’ lyrics lack diversity. To put it simply, if you listen to “In Heaven,” you’ve basically listened to the entire album. Almost all of the songs’ lyrics revolve around love, university life, and early adulthood angst. Sure, these themes are accessible to a late teens/early twenties demographic, which is presumably the band’s target audience. But the band’s tendency to dwell on the same over-romanticized experiences throughout the album is uncreative, lazy, and, quite frankly, boring. In short, Ancient Mars has the potential to be a memorable album, but in its current form, it fails to stand out from the mass of pop songs trying to pander to the young adult market.
