Family Plan - Space Available

Family Plan

Space Available
self-released; 2015

3.3 out of 5

By Ted Rogen
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Family Plan is in fact a family related by blood. They hail from Tucson, AZ but like most families the members are spread out into different places in the world. The band consists of two brothers, two sisters and the parents. 

First and foremost it should be noted that their recent release Space Available would be labeled a “Christian” album. The reason being most of the songs seem to be talking to a guy who they never mentioned directly but I have a hunch is Jesus. That being said it doesn’t feel like they are shoving the concept down my throat but I can’t imagine the album being in a militant atheist’s album rotation. 

Above all else Space Available is a pop album. It’s actually quite diverse and quite scattered. There are some songs that are so upbeat and bubbly that they seem they should be sung by a bunch of teenagers at Disney World for a bunch of eight-year-olds, to melancholy acoustic ballads and even hard rock hybrids that sound like they can be an Evanescence B-side. Family Plan doesn’t establish much of a sound and in fact Space Available feels more like a compilation album of singles. Different singers and different styles tend to lead to disparity. 

“Higher” is so intensely intense with positive, cathartic energy that it almost has the opposite effect. If you have ever been to worship on a Sunday morning it kind of reminds me of that except injected with anabolic steroids. People are passing out from emotion overload and even god might advise to take it down a notch.Luckily, the intensity is taken down and replaced with bubblegum pop. “Brand New” is a commercial radio ready type tune that you could imagine playing in an Abercrombie & Fitch ad. 

A personal favorite was “Unknown” which contains some beautiful guitar picking and a stellar vocal performance. The melancholy sounded good and was a welcome deviation from the bubblegum pop of the previous songs. “Take Me” is commercial Disney pop 101 while “Offering” reinforces the tropes of a metal band like Evanescence. As the album progresses it jumps around like a person with bipolar disorders. Some of the songs are very melancholy such as “Fleeting” while a song like “Space Available” seem so hyperbolically optimistic that I could equate it to ingesting a little too much Zoloft and feeling like everything is going to turn out just fine. 

The production and songwriting is solid throughout. Whether or not you will enjoy this type of music is up in the air. One thing I can say for certain is that even though this is pop music it will still appeal to a niche audience. 

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