Last Call - The Noise Mag
Robin Umbley - The Noise
Here's the breakdown of the latest CD by this powe...
Here's the breakdown of the latest CD by this power trio. "War is Over" is catchy hard rock, kind of call-and-response vocals alternating between distant-sounding, distorted vocals and clearer vocals. "Waiting on You" evokes old Black Sabbath that starts off with a sound that recalls "War Pigs" with its vocal/instrumental trade-offs before it morphs into a melodic rock-off. "Stripes" is more hard rock that melds with a mournful blues harp and a back-and-forth dialogue between drums and guitar, which is interesting and effective. Then there's the puzzling "Charade": two minutes and 43 seconds of drum solo with a drum major's whistle thrown in there. Sure, it's a nicely done solo, but maybe they should have used this as an intro or outro to the CD. The obligatory "ballad," is "Is This All," which, to the band's credit, it rightfully underproduced. It gives the song a raw, almost tribal sound. The guitar is clear yet subtle with its un-effected solo parts. The CD jumps right back in to hard rock with "Really Want It," an early metal-sounding song that evokes Judas Priest. Overall, this CD is catchy, has interesting and varied musical ideas within the power trio structure, is nicely produced, has great instrumentation, and at seven songs, is a perfect length. It grew on me. I wish I had a lyric sheet, though.