No matter how many times I remind myself the Bathtub Dogs's latest album is called Escalator Music, I find myself wanting to type/say "Elevator Music" nearly every other time I go to write the album name for this review. One can call it a mistake or even a Freudian slip, but as I continued to listen to the album, I realized that my brain was possibly trying to tell me something. The Bathtub Dogs sound great and the album has a fun track list from start to finish, but there's no defining "wow" moment to grab hold of. It's just a nice listen … kind of like nice elevator music.

Before I get into the individual tracks, a big shoutout to the members of Bathtub Dogs and the production by Lucas Kellison for making the group sound great throughout. In some albums that I've listened to from other groups, I question whether their live performance of the tracks can match what they are doing on the album, but I don't get that sense here. I get the sense that what they sound like live is very close to what they put on the record — every syllable, note, and pause came through crystal clear, and the blend between all vocal parts is consistent throughout, so I can focus on every part individually as well as a collective. It's clear that each member of the Bathtub Dogs is not just an excellent vocalist, but they are all great musicians all around.

And yet, there's still plenty of untapped potential across the release that could have escalated the overall score from a "4" to a "5". A lot of the critiques focus in on the use of dynamics; I need the overall range to be bigger. A great example is Music for a Sushi Restaurant: underneath the smooth solo from David Suarez-Guzman, some of the background vocals are just a little too timid sounding. I want the mid-range "trumpets" to cut through the chorus and smack me across the face, but they're drowned out by the strong bass line to the point that the track loses a bit of that overall punch. A similar theme appears in other tracks, notably Lost in Translation and Love on Top, but I do hear a better balance of dynamics in Want Me Back where the group has an excellent buildup in the bridge in the stacking of vocals. The fun rhythmic backing lines in the chorus are a fun listen as well; certainly a vocal part that I would want to sing.

Overall, Escalator Music is a great snapshot of the Bathtub Dogs — great solos all around, solid arrangements, and some incredibly talented musicians. That said, for the Bathtub Dogs to ensure their album doesn't become escalator/elevator music that is simply a nice listen and not given much thought, I challenge the group to take a little bit more risk in their arrangements and be more consistent in their dynamic levels throughout every track. If the singers accomplish this, I have no doubt that the Bathtub Dogs would be on their way to being a "dorm room" name in collegiate a cappella and getting "5"s from RARB reviewers.

With an album name like Escalator Music, the Bathtub Dogs make their intent known before the first note is even sung. This album isn't meant to be serious. This album is meant to be fun, an album that can be enjoyed casually at any time. To that extent, the group is mostly successful. This album is a fun and easy listen, but it can at times have muted energy that tarnishes the overall product.

Starting at the top, Lost In Translation sets the stage for what the Bathtub Dogs are trying to do. This piece is filled with buttery smooth chords and Ben Hastreiter's solo is delightfully sincere without sacrificing strength. This piece isn't doing much to slam down doors, waiting until the bridge to finally give a truly impactful moment. The overall impact of the song is not to overwhelm the audience or demand its attention, but to lay the groundwork for what the group can offer.

Later in the album, we start to really see the flaws here. I want to love If I Didn't Love You so much more than I do. This piece begins and ends with energy. The arrangement is constantly flowing, having every part bounce around between different rhythms and textures to create a whole product. However, throughout all of this flowing, the energy and dynamics always seems to stay roughly the same. This piece lives and dies in the dynamics; the small moments need to be filled with microdynamics and the large moments need to have powerful fortes. Instead, the whole piece winds up somewhere hovering around a mezzo dynamic and does little to change that.

As I try to summarize my thoughts on this release, I simply have one comment: I want more. I want more dynamics. I want more energy. I want the music to reach out through the speakers, grab me by the collar and not let go until the last note is sung. The elements are all close. The arrangements are strong, the lead vocalists are compelling. All that is missing is the energy. It falls on the group to learn how to find it and channel it into the music. If the singers can figure out how to put that piece in place, I think the next album by the Bathtub Dogs could be a real winner.

Six years ago I reviewed the Bathtub Dogs's Recess and opened by saying it was "quite simply par for modern all-male a cappella. It does its job well but also does nothing past that." It's funny how, even with what must be a completely new cycle of group membership, this hasn't really changed. I'd still say the same thing, if not even more so, about Escalator Music.

Not everything I said in the last review still applies, however. On Recess, I noted that while the album as a whole felt lacking in energy and risk-taking, there were some highlights and exceptions that I loved. This time, there aren't any tracks that particularly leap out as an incredible cut. Music For a Sushi Restaurant is probably my favorite track on here, but even it doesn't mesmerize me like Recess's highlights did. While Escalator Music is overall even more consistently solid (which was already a praise I gave last time), not being able to latch onto any highlights is a bit deflating.

Much of this comes down to how overly "sanitized" this album plays. This is most apparent in the solos. On one hand, every soloist is clearly proficient vocally and carries the part without slacking. At the same time, I'm hearing almost no risks or authenticity in delivering lyric messages — natural rough edges in voices are completely smoothed out, and things like runs and belting notes sound excessively precise. It reveals an uncanny valley of what appears to be aggressive over-editing on the production side. Background vocals also live in a tiny dynamic contrast window throughout the whole album, and it often feels like much of the sound space is underutilized (tracks feel both full and empty at the same time, and it's hard for me to explain why).

Hoping You'd Call and Love On Top suffer from this over-sanitization the most. The production may be to blame for some of the aforementioned reservations, but the arrangements, vocal energy, and dynamics put into the recording booths can also limit what editing and mixing can feasibly accomplish.

All that being said, just like last time, this is a very consistent project. Virtually no duds, and almost no major eyebrow-raising oddities (keyword almost — Lost In Translation's use of Kendrick Lamar and Sam Dew's Count Me Out introduction lyrics are bizarre to say the least, and even on re-listens it still felt like a mismatch) means the album can be replayed with no skips, which should be considered invaluable.

Last time, I also noted deficiencies in the Bathtub Dogs's liner notes. This time, the liner notes correctly detail songwriters, and it is important to take note of and praise growth in this area. Well done, logistics team!

Once again, the Bathtub Dogs have put out an album that's well above average thanks to high consistency, but whose risk aversion is even more apparent than six years ago. Causes and contributors may differ this time, but it's the same end result. The group could need to practice vocal expression and dynamic contrast/texture, or the production team may need to exercise a bit of restraint during the editing process, or both. Either way, these obstacles are not insurmountable, and the Bathtub Dogs have all the tools they need — strong vocalists and arrangers, primarily — to overcome them.