The dangers facing modern rock bands come down to two things: Sounding too 'American' – you all know what I mean, that brand of perennial commercial-post-grunge-radio-rock that seems to filter through onto the music television channels every Summer and die back in the Autumn. The other danger is sounding like a nostalgia act – I've been to too many gigs in recent memory where the support band either fails at trying to replicate the best of the seventies, or succeeds in replicating the worst of the eighties. Rock bands these days have to really mix it up to sound different and yet keep a foot firmly on the ground if they want anyone to listen to it. Thankfully though it is a trend that is seemingly on the increase.
Having scored some support slots over the past few years with bands such as Fozzy and Imperial Vipers, the time has come for them to put their money where there mouth is and release the debut album. This is rock music in its most literal sense, forged on the live circuit and tamed for CD release – as any good debut should be. There are plenty of influences from bands past and present that have obviously gone into mix, but what is impressive is how they have struck a balance between the well produced and mixed classic rock riff-driven sound and still incorporated progressive elements to keep it interesting.
'After Dark' opens with a classic sounding riff that, if anything, will have you nodding your head by the second verse – a short, sharp, sweet opener that makes a little nod to the past before opening up the bands little box of tricks. 'Sick and Tired' is one for head-banging and / or singing along to with nice tempo changes and twists. 'Mine All Mine' opens with vocalist Dave McKee stretching his vocal chords to their limit, which he repeats several times and I don't think was particularly integral to the song as a whole, which is itself pretty balls to the wall. 'Nightmare' is probably the best riff on the album and a pit-friendly anthem unto itself and a perfect centrepiece that shows what these guys are capable of. Whereas 'Enough of You' follows on with the swaying arms, cigarette lighters rousing verse, up tempo chorus and guitar solo combination that every self-respecting rock band requires. 'Demons' while a great display of song writing, and an excellent performance on the disc does veer dangerously towards the 'American' sound I mentioned earlier, luckily the band seem to pull it back with another trick before they go over the edge. The albums penultimate track 'Carnival' is a very funky number that is probably the most fun track on the album with its great bass and drum lines.
This is a strong and confident offering for a debut album. The band have obviously taken their time, gigged their asses off and waited for the right time to put this album out... and for the most part it works. As with any full length debut there are bugs to be worked out, in this case there are times when some of the tracks veer into clichéd waters, but the band pull it back successfully in most instances. There are one or two tracks that seem to stall the momentum of the album that would perhaps fare better as b-sides or being placed towards the end of the track listing. But on the whole I’d say this is a band to watch out for.
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