This Day Won't Last at All

Plumtree's final release, This Day Won't Last at All, marks the point at which everything began to come together — their sweet harmonies and punk-pop sound had finally grown and developed into more complicated song structure, incorporating their choppier roots with calm and subtlety. Granted, the songs are still not complex by any means, but the simplicity of the playing is overshadowed by their stunning lyrics. Themes are fairly basic, mostly dealing with bitter relationships, but the all-girl quartet gives their songs a different sound and a different feel somehow. Perhaps it has something to do with Carla Gillis and Amanda Braden alternating on lead vocal duties, each giving their songs a different feeling. Fast-paced tracks (similar to their work on previous albums like Mass Teen Fainting and Predicts the Future) get the album going, with highlights including the album-opening "Was That All?" and "Tonight's Not Alright," which starts off fast and furiously with a drum intro by Lynette Gillis. However, the album's most defining moments rest in the down-tempo numbers like "Latitude" and "Lies I Tell Myself." It is during these songs that you can really tell exactly how far Plumtree has come. Unfortunately, after the release of this album and the subsequent touring that followed, the band broke up in late 2000.