I am only in the initial listening stage, but man is this a consistently listenable CD. Think of the Red Hot Chili Peppers with The Who’s rhythm section - so rapid-fire verse’s and sing-along choruses (but unlike the RHCP’s, the vocals are in tune ;)) alongside sonic-landscape guitars, but the muscular foundation is more rock/punk than funk rock.
It just pops - great riffs and rhythms, and infectious energy. The drummer is excellent. They know how to deliver a good song intro, and there are no mis-steps as you move through a song - any shifts in tempo or mood fit. It sounds good, too - the producer (Jay Joyce?) sounds like a Rick Rubin fan - just great guitar tones and enough space in the (pretty crowded) mix to pick out the parts and appreciate the fact that humans are making this racket.
These guys know what they are doing and bring the rock. I suspect this is going to get an end-to-end workout in my car and at home for a while. One of the better straight-up, in the pocket rock albums I have heard in a while.
The first time I heard “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked,” I kind of hated it. It sounded like sort of a whiney 20-something attempt at moral philosophy or something. But damn, if that singer’s voice doesn’t hook me. It’s totally grown on me.
I did download it from Itunes. Just the one song, though, not the whole CD. I may revisit it.
I went and watched 2 videos (Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked and Back Against The Wall, and I gotta say: wow, what utter crap.
The band looks and sounds like 17 year olds with a decent basic musical education playing simple rock songs with whiny, Beck-like lyrics and vox. No real hooks, no killer guitar riffs, no awesome bridges…
I can kinda see what you see when you say “infectious energy” but watching those videos, I didn’t hear it and I didn’t see it in the band. They look like couch potatoes to me, and I don’t hear any real enthusiasm in their playing.
To me, the guys not only don’t bring the rock, they aren’t even sure what the rock is.
Thanks for letting me know about them tho. I’d rather listen and reject than not have listened at all.
I will have to check out the videos to see if they represent what I am trying to describe. This is all YMMV anyway - but boy, I hear something different. I will say that they don’t have any metal or aggressive punk in them whatsoever, so I can see how that would be outside your sweet spot…
Yeah, I agree it does have a certain vibe; it’s actually very close to (one of my favs) The Seeds in tone, but without the catchy guitar hook, and without the vocal slides and bends and growls that Sky Saxon did. But I can definitely hear Beck in that guys vocals and lyrics.
Hmmm. Listening to that Seeds song, it also occurs to me that the production on CtE seems flat in comparison.
ETA: I’ll give you this: I see and hear potential in these guys. It’s there, somewhere. They really seem like they need a catalyst to shake it loose or something.
Great cut! I don’t know that I have heard that - or, it sure sounds familiar, but I don’t recall digging into it. Who’s the guitarist? He’s really good - lots of control on his vibrato. Thanks for fighting my ignorance.
I totally see the overlap, but would argue that you are not allowing for another influence in CtE’s sound: a kind of Stones/Black Crowes undertone. Meaning: there is a bit of messiness in the groove as different players change ownership of it; and there is an intentional murk to the mix - not quite Exile, but certainly trying to bury the vocal vs. The Seeds’ more 60’s pop vocal-forward mix. Again, YMMV.
I fell for this song when it was used during the intro to the game Borderlands that came out last year. I listened to the rest of the album on spotify but my overall impression was “meh”.
A Youtube friend did make a cool one-man-band version here.
Glad we are on the same page with The Seeds as well. Ever see that Axe commercial that used “Can’t seem to make you mine.” Whoa. Crazy what ad execs dig up.
