The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Lonely Road

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is an American punk/post-hardcore band. Post-hardcore is an interesting new genre; it’s not quite punk, not quite metalcore and not quite heavy metal. It’s a mixture of all three. The vocalist of such a band is most likely to have a pop-punk kind of voice, which he would temper with modulation, screaming and whispering. The guitars’ tone is punk-like, but post-hardcore bands go beyond punk constraints to even put in the odd solo. RJA’s latest offering, ‘Lonely Road’, however moves away from post-hardcore and towards a more generic punk/alternative rock sound. I say this because the screaming’s mostly done away with, and there are a couple of acoustic songs too.

‘You Better Pray’ was the first single released from this album, and it was the first song I listened to. The vocalist’s electronically touched singing in the verse parts, and the characteristic nasal crooning during the chorus parts are catchy, but not what make the song great. It’s the stop-start discordance of the rhythm guitars, coupled with a nicely overlaid solo that top it off. ‘Pen and paper’, the second single off the album, is a decent song; it tends to get sickeningly sweet, but a nice bridge section halts the process. It is probably the most punk-like song on the album, but that works in its favour.

Video: You Better Pray

RJA make a conscious effort to stay clear of pure punk rock. They sometimes overdo it however, with vocalist Ronnie Winter particularly guilty; he sometimes over-modulates and appends an irritating gasp to his words. ‘Believe’, which would have otherwise been an outstanding romantic/acoustic piece, is only great because of precisely this. Nevertheless, it has excellent lyrics and when Winter’s voice steps up through the frequency spectrum during the chorus, it really is quite delightful. One technique that I’ve already talked about is the stop –start guitaring, and RJA use it to great effect. ‘Step Right Up’ is a really nice example of this, and is my pick for the second best song on this album. ‘Pull Me Back’ has a nice solo section, and a catchy chorus. The title track ‘Lonely Road’ is another great song. Again, RJA introduce just the right amount of discordance, a chord here and a voice modulation there, that transform decent punk rock into good punk rock. Watch out for the musical exhibition RJA put on towards the end of this song. ‘Represent’ and ‘Godspeed’ are slower, softer and more melodic, but there’s nothing particularly distinctive about them; consequently they don’t get the promotion from good to great in my book. ‘Senioritis’ and ‘No spell’ are disappointing; here RJA fail in their quest for uniqueness, they sound trite and in all likelihood will be skipped from the playlist after one listen.

Video: Believe
Video: Step Right Up

On the whole, ‘Lonely Road’ is a nice album. I’ve read reviews where’s it’s been unfavourably compared to their earlier album. I’ve also seen accusations of selling out: apparently because RJA have traded their heavier post-hardcore sound for a softer, more punk-like approach. I haven’t listened to their older album yet, and if you haven’t either, this is quite a good album. A word of warning however: if you detest punk rock and high pitched, nasal vocals, I fear even RJA’s attempts at challenging convention will not make you like this album.

Rating: (Vocals: 8/10, Guitaring: 7.5/10, Lyrics: 7.5/10, Overall: 7.8/10)

Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band, and considerably more mainstream than the other bands we’ve discussed here. Calling their music alternative rock is about as useful as identifying them as a rock band, and also not completely fair to them. After all, they have managed to evolve a musical style of their own, which cannot be fully described by that label. Incidentally FF have always been Grammy favourites, with all their six albums being nominated, and three winning it. ‘Echoes, Patience, Silence & Grace’ is rock music at its palatable best. A couple of songs stick to the tried and tested FF formula: an extended acoustic opening section, followed by a quick amp-up into harder rock. ‘Let It Die’, and ‘But, honestly’ are perfect examples. Both songs are excellent listens, with the acoustic portions making you long for the electrics and when they do arrive, leaving you satisfied.

Video: Let It Die

‘The Pretender’ is the first single they released from this album, and is probably the only traditional alternative rock song in the entire album. Dave Grohl, the vocalist and former drummer for Nirvana, is good but not awesome. He knows he doesn’t possess a stupendous vocal range, but also knows that his harsh acoustic-backed vocals nicely complement his whining screams in the harder portions. The guitaring is again not too complex, but quite creative, and the simplicity is their greatest strength. This band doesn’t punch above its weight.

Video: The Pretender
Video: But, Honestly

Many hard rock bands make acoustic songs, and with a decent melody and standard chords, manage to make them sound good. But you realize what a really good acoustic song is supposed to sound like when you listen to ‘Stranger things have happened’. The tune is mesmerizing, and the sweet little solo towards the end of the song is spot on. Keyboard backed soft songs ‘Statues’, and ‘Home’ take some growing into, but you eventually will. ‘Ballad Of the Beaconsfield Miners’, an instrumental acoustic piece, is bound to appeal with its fast, almost quirky guitaring. There is a problem with this album, however, and it is that some of the songs give the impression that they are only there to make up the numbers. If you dislike a particular song, then it is quite likely that there will be another person who will absolutely love it. It’s much more worrying if there’s a song that makes no impression at all. And that is what detracts from an otherwise fine album. I mentioned earlier that FF is rock music at its most palatable, and I reiterate the point. If you are a ‘pop person’ moving into rock, listen to this album. If you a ‘rock person’, take some time to appreciate the best of alternative rock today.

Video: Stranger Things Have Happened

Rating: (Vocals: 8/10, Guitaring: 7.5/10, Originality: 9/10, Overall: 8.2/10)

Parkway Drive - Horizons

You’ve been forewarned that the author of the following post is likely to descend into an incomprehensible rant, drooling over the delightful excellence of the band being described.

Parkway Drive is an Australian metalcore band. I was introduced to this band thanks to a question asked on Yahoo! Answers, which was something about naming the ‘Top Ten metal bands’. Of course a whole bunch of people contributed their two paise’s worth, and I randomly picked up several from the intimidatingly large groups of ten. Parkway Drive was one of them. There’s a problem with listening to unheralded bands: it usually, and I stress the word ‘usually’, happens that these bands are unheralded because they aren’t all that great. But of course, all great bands start small, and once in a while you get lucky. Parkway Drive is an excellent band, and their recent success should deservedly lift them out of obscurity into the mainstream metal scene.

Here I’ll cover their latest album ‘Horizons’, although their previous album ‘Killing With a Smile’ is also brilliant, if only a wee tetchy bit less so. In ‘Horizons’ Parkway Drive experiment a bit more with their music, making some slightly less metalcore-like songs, while keeping their identity intact and managing to make the album sound more complete. What is it about them that I find appealing? The brutal riffs are a very good start. One reviewer, while giving ‘Horizons’ a ten on ten rating, asked rhetorically, ‘Who said metal’s dead?’ The riffing is almost vintage thrash, but the screamed out vocals means that it’s unlikely that that label will ever be applied to this band. Sometimes, with metalcore bands, you wonder if they would be better served if they cut out the vocals all together and stuck to guitaring. Not so with Parkway Drive. The vocalist is far from monotonous: he effortlessly switches from standard metalcore screaming to more emo-like whining, and death metal like monster growls. The breakdowns in most of the songs are brilliantly timed; the solos are sweet with plenty of legato and finger tapping. Chugging thrash riffs are great, but can get repetitive and melt into a background drone; Parkway Drive almost unconsciously vary the tempo of the songs, repeatedly demanding your full attention. Listening to Parkway Drive makes you want to use up that energy you never knew you had; it makes you want to headbang viciously, no matter how bald you are. It makes you want to jump up and down and listen to the songs at full volume, no matter how many neighbours you offend. Surprisingly, for a band of this genre, the lyrics are often profound, if you manage to figure them out.

‘Boneyards’ was the first track I listened to, and in many ways exemplifies all things good about this band. Stunningly brutal breakdowns, thrashy riffs and mind numbing vocals are a part of this song. ‘Carrion’ is another sensational track; if metalcore can ever be melodic, this is it. ‘Idols and Anchors’ is excellent too, and marks a successful experiment for Parkway Drive in expanding the scope of their music. Again, picking out individual songs is more of an academic exercise with this album. No metal fan would want to miss out on 'Horizons'.


Video: Boneyards
Video: Carrion
Video: Horizons

Rating: (Vocals -9/10, Riffs-10/10, Overall-9.5/10)