Category: Rock (Page 12 of 241)

Red: Until We Have Faces

February 1, 2011 /


RIYL: Chevelle, Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace

Twice-nominated for Grammys and one of mainstream rock’s most successful acts, Red are back with their third studio release, Until We Have Faces. Revolving around the theme of seeking one’s identity (and at least partially-inspired by the C.S. Lewis book, “Till We Have Faces”), this new offering may be the record that Red’s detractors have been foaming at the mouth for. It’s a pretty safe, mainstream offering that sees the band doing what they do best, and not much more. Guess what? It still rocks.

Kicking off with its heaviest track, “Feed the Machine,” Red attack the sound system with a simply epic sound. Featuring heavily down-tuned guitars punctuated with string arrangements and soaring choruses Red’s music personifies “brutal but beautiful.” The single, “Faceless,” is one of the stronger tracks and a very safe radio play. “Let it Burn” and “Not Alone,” in the same vein as previous tracks “Let Go” and “Start Again,” display the band’s penchant for ballads and layered melodies. The closing track, the piano-driven “Hymn for the Missing,” takes on a mythic beauty that holds long after the album is finished.

Red is anchored by vocalist Michael Barnes, whose emotional delivery and at-times wicked scream continues to lift what would otherwise be standard issue rock songs. He’s the perfect fit for what are mainly hopeful, positive lyrics (Red is, after all, a Christian band). The rest of the band is tight, and guitarist Anthony Armstrong carries a one-man army of a tone. Producer Rob Graves, who also produced Red’s previous efforts, knows these guys have a good thing going.

Red are really one of the last truly mainstream rock acts around. They’re heavy enough to bring in fans of more aggressive music, but friendly and catchy enough to cross over to contemporary rock fans. The sensational vocals of Barnes and the beautiful orchestral arrangements really help them separate from the competition. Those expecting progression from a technical standpoint will be disappointed, but savvy veterans content with Red’s place in the musical landscape are going to find a whole new batch of songs to love. (Red Ink/Sony 2011)

Red MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Christian, Rock

Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s: Buzzard

January 26, 2011 /


RIYL: Aqualung, Nada Surf, Rogue Wave

It’s interesting to note or see when a band loses its record deal or exits from a major label on its own, and what happens afterward. Many times the band breaks up and goes their separate ways, but these days that’s just the beginning for some artists; with Chicago-based band Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s being one such act. Their previous albums – The Dust of Retreat (Artemis, 2005) and Animal (as well as Not Animal – Epic, 2008) – were similarly lush and brooding with lots of orchestration. But now back to being fully indie, singer/songwriter/guitarist Richard Edwards took six months off before gathering the rest of the band to record again, and the result is the beautifully haunting Buzzard. These songs can maybe best be described as raunchy Halloween-inspired stoner rock, with melodies. The strings are gone and the crunching Fender guitar sound is prominent. There are moments, of course, when Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s reaches back a couple of years and delivers some similar material, particularly on “Tiny Vampire Robot” and the beautifully acoustic “I Do.” But the raunch is in full bloom on “Let’s Paint Our Teeth Green” and “New York City Hotel Blues,” as well as the album’s best track, “Freak Flight Speed.” Oh, and there is also “Your Lower Back,” a somewhat playful nod to a young stripper. Not only does Buzzard have the type of music you might hear in the hip indie record store, it’s maybe Margot’s best album yet – and perhaps the one they’ve wanted to make all along. (Mariel/Redeye 2010)

Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Rock

Steal This Song: U.S. Royalty, “Monte Carlo”

January 25, 2011 /

Holy west coast pop, Batman. Now this is a sound that we wouldn’t mind seeing catch on and infiltrate the mainstream…again.

US_Royalty_02

We’re on our first spin through Mirrors, the debut album U.S. Royalty, a band who is about as far removed as one can get from the west coast while still being in the States (they’re from Washington DC), and it has a vibe to it that is instantly familiar without sounding derivative. Big, soaring vocals with some nicely stacked harmonies, along with the occasional foray into feedback, these guys are definitely a band to watch. Fans of Fleetwood Mac are going to jump all over “Monte Carlo.” It’s like “Dreams” as a driving song. Get it now, so you can say you were there first.

Click here to download U.S. Royalty – Monte Carlo

Americana, Artists, CD Reviews, Downloads, Folk, Me Myself and iPod, Pop, Rock, Steal This Song

The Alternate Routes: Lately

January 21, 2011 /


RIYL: Gabe Dixon Band, Matt Nathanson, The Damnwells

New England based alt-pop band the Alternate Routes have flirted with modest success – their breakthrough, Good and Reckless and True, was produced by Jay Joyce and their 2009 album was released by indie giant Vanguard. But like many talented bands these days, they’re back to doing it on their own again. Led by Eric Donnelly and Tim Warren, the Alternate Routes and their acoustic-driven, slightly twangy alterna-pop are back with a fourth studio album called Lately. The band is road-tested and still has above average songwriting chops, but there is a bit of magic missing based on previous work. As with most work from the Alternate Routes, there is a nice balance between guitar-driven, beer-soaked rockers (“Rocking Chair”), rock anthems (“Kiss Me” or “Tell Me Your Name”), and pretty ballads (“Shame” and “Lollapalooza”). But if you’ve been digging on these guys since the beginning, you’ll no doubt appreciate the straight-up driving pop of “Still Can’t Get Enough.” No matter where they are in their career, The Alternate Routes are still making relevant, easy-to-listen-to music – that and the compelling vocals of Warren should keep them on the road for a little while longer. (Alternate Routes Records & Soundwave 2010)

The Alternate Routes MySpace Page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock

Pendulum: Immersion

January 21, 2011 /


RIYL: The Prodigy, Nightbreed, King Cannibal

Pendulum have the most apt band name in history, because they love to swing back and forth between two genres; drum and bass and hard rock. Their 2006 debut Hold Your Colour was almost exclusively drum and bass, but their 2008 follow-up In Silico saw the group abandon almost all of the drum and bass influences in exchange for a hard electronic rock style (think Nitzer Ebb meets metal) that put off much of their core fanbase. It also made them mainstream stars throughout much of their native Australia as well as Europe, leading bassheads around the world to cry “sellout.”

Well, this should shut them up, although it probably won’t. With Immersion the band takes a hard swing back to their drum and bass roots while still keeping just enough of their rock influence to sound exciting and different. They even pull in some electro-house and dubstep influences into the fold. Sometimes they even do it all at once, like with the two-parter track “The Island,” which starts as a straight-up electronic-rock song before suddenly exploding into a sea manic breakbeats and then transforming again into a shockingly good dubstep sound, a genre that is usually as boring and empty as the fans who listen to it. There are a couple mid-tempo tracks on Immersion that stick closer to the rock/dance formula of In Silico, and most of the songs still feature an abundance of vocals. I’m sure the most hardcore drum and bass fanatics out there will cling to those two facets of the album to convince themselves that Pendulum are still a bunch of sellouts. They can go ahead, the rest of us will be rocking out to the first great electronic album of 2011 (or the last great electronic album of 2010 if you live in the rest of the world, where it came out months ago). (Atlantic 2011)

Pendulum MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Dance, Electronica, Instrumental, Metal, Rock

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