Review: The Candace Brooks Band - The Chase

The Candace Brooks Band - The Chase
2009, The Candace Brooks Band

The Candace Brooks Band is a Providence, Rhode Island quartet the blends 1990's Alt-Rock with an edge worthy of today and a Pop sensibility that's universal across generations and genres. Following up on the success of their 2007 EP, Life After Me, The Candace Books Band returns with their first full-length album, The Chase. The Candace Brooks Band won numerous accolades for Life After Me in Providence, even placing second in a Boston battles of the bands, but with The Chase looks to open themselves up to a much wider audience. The self-produced album shows influences such as Tegan & Sara, Blondie and Franz Ferdinand but stays on the high side of original with a sound that's a breath of fresh air in the stale Alt-Rock genre.

If you like to dance you're going to love The Candace Brooks Band. The band loves songs that make people dance, feeding off the energy of the crowd to push their stage show ever higher. Brooks displays the utmost confidence on the opening track, I'm Gonna Break Your Heart; a musical acknowledgement of fact more than a threat. Brooks' rough hewn voice is the perfect rocker girl touch, the ultimate accent that sounds like a cross between Jewel and Debbie Harry. Reign Of Heart grabs hold of the listener in the ultimate courtship song, mixing elements of lyric rock with a heavy guitar chorus that isn't metal but wants to be. Feel It will get you on your feet, between the delirious bass line, danceable beat and cane sugar vocal line you'll be moved to move.

Whatever You Want (For Right Now) puts a serious edge on things, catching the energy of early Blondie in a risque tune that will play particularly well live. The rhythms here are right off a Ramones record, practically, and not dancing is not an option. Reckless follows up on a somewhat bland note; not a bad song but just not having the oomph of the rest of the record. The Chase ends with Gone Missing, a song mourning the slow decline of a relationship and recalling the days when things were different. Brooks sounds her most committed on this tune, and the band is as tight as always.

The thrill of The Chase is something that doesn't fully materialize for The Candance Brooks Band. The material is mostly strong, the band is excellent, and Brooks is entertaining, but for a band with such a reputation for their live shows, that energy just doesn't translate to CD as well as it might. Brooks sounds like she's been held back at times; her voice suggests she can really let go when she wants to, but it doesn't happen here. There's a danceable energy in the music but it doesn't always carry over to the vocal line. There are probably several production decisions that lead to this outcome, but it doesn't do Brooks or the rest of the band justice. I recommend the disc, but recommend catching them live even more.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about The Candance Brooks Band at http://www.thecandancebrooksband.com/ or www.myspace.com/thecandacebrooksband. You can purchase The Chase directly from the band's web store.

Review: Loomis & The Lust - Nagasha EP

Loomis & The Lust - Nagasha EP
2009, Kings Of Spain/BMI

Santa Barbara, California is home base for Loomis & The Lust, but after listening to their debut EP, Nagasha (July, 2009) I suspect they'll be spending a lot less time at home. With such diverse influences as The Kinks, The Animals, Chet Atkins, David Bowie, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Franz Ferdinand, Loomis & The Lust create an original brand of Rock N Roll with an honest affection for 1970's classic rock and a hook-laden philosophy straight out of the 1980's. Nagasha was produced by Brandon Mason (David Bowie, Secret Machines, Bono, The Edge), and features some of the catchiest, most danceable Rock N Roll of the year.

Nagasha opens with Bright Red Chords, a song that will lodge itself in your brain before you even know it's happened. The melody here has a universal feel, like something you've heard so many times you know it even as you hear it the first time. With a catchy, dance-inducing arrangement, Bright Red Chords will stick with you for a good long time. Break On Love has a classic, Blues/Rock feel and would fit right into an AOR playlist. Sweetness sounds like it could be a mix of The Wallflowers and Dave Matthews (solo), carrying a chorus that's unforgettable, while Cure For Sale slows things down a bit in a gentle rocker that entrenches in the Wallflowers sound. Cure For Sale may well be the most marketable song on the disc, likely having significant allure for the licensing world. Girl Next Door is a big, raucous blues-influenced rocker that sounds like it could be the basis for a movie. The theme here is a classic for Rock N Roll, and Loomis & The Lust show what they're really made of, using double entendre and testosterone-laden intentions for an amusing bit of musical confusion.

Loomis & The Lust take Rock N Roll back where it belongs in the five songs presented on Nagasha, blending deep classic rock roots with some of the zeitgeist of the 1980's and a modern twist. I suspect Loomis & The Lust will see a lot of commercial success in the licensing realm, although I am not sure where they fit in currently in the world of radio. From anything I have read about the band the live show is the thing. Loomis & The Lust seems to convert new fans every time they step on stage. Consequently, while I highly recommend you check out Nagasha, I would urge you to make a point of seeing Loomis & The Lust if they come to your town.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Loomis & The Lust at www.myspace.com/loomisandthelust or http://www.loomisandthelust.com/. You can purchase the Nagasha EP directly from their band via their web store, or digitally via iTunes.

Review: The New Up - Better Off

The New Up - Better Off
2009, Evil Cherise Publishing

Occasionally a band comes along where no one can agree who they sound alike. The New Up has been compared to such divergent acts as Radiohead, Journey, Lake Trout, The Talking heads and TV On The Radio. These comparisons aren't entirely off the mark, but none of really strike a careful listener as accurate, either. The San Francisco quintet with roots far to the east (Chicago, Illinois and Charlottesville, Virginia) have managed to craft a sound that sounds a little bit like a whole lot of people and a lot like no one else, which is as close to original as it's possible to get in a medium based on eight notes. The New Up's latest EP, Better Off, will be released on August 18, 2009, and is a follow-up to last year's Broken Machine. Where Broken Machine was a musical elucidation of the problems of the world, Better Off is the beginning of transcendence, suggesting changes that might happen on the personal level that will turn things around. Producer Jamieson Durr (Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Handsome Boy Modeling School) brings out the best side of The New Up on Better Off, juxtaposing their Pop tendencies with their harder side in a mix that crosses genres with electrifying results.

Lead vocalist ES Pitcher is a front woman in the tradition of Blondie or Gwen Stefani; a big Rock N Roll voice with lots of layers and a very sensuous side that can draw you in before she belts you away. Pitcher also contributes on guitar. The band is rounded out by Noah Reid (guitar, vocals); Hawk West (flute, automation); Dain Dizazzo (bass) and Drew Bertrand (drums, percussion). Better Off opens with Dear Life, a vibrant guitar rocker that shows off Pitcher's pipes in grand fashion. Dear Life is good enough and hard enough to crawl all over Modern Rock radio playlists, but has enough Pop sensibility to cross over. Better Off slows things down a bit in a post-Grunge tune that rocks and grinds its way to self-realization. B!tch has a new wave sheen to it that fits somewhere between The Replacements and No Doubt; the melody line is straightforward but the arrangement builds in a lot of sonic dissonance that keeps listeners on their toes. Not to mention there's a guitar solo here that would sound right at home on a Scorpions album. F.Y.R.U.F.N. is an acronym we can't fully publish, but let's just saw I'm glad I'm not Roger. The song is dark and vaguely disturbed in sonic aspect. Wait (For Danny G.) is a sprawling memoriam in song that just doesn't fit with the rest of the material here, but is included for obvious reasons.

The New Up is on to something out there in San Francisco. The market for bands like The New Up is a narrow one, and many great bands go unheard by anyone who doesn't happen across their MySpace page, but The New Up just might have the right zeitgeist to make it. Better Off makes a distinct impression, with a sound that's derivative yet original, and a vocalist in ES Pitcher who can break down walls with her sound and presence. Don't be surprised if The New Up is a name you hear a lot more of in the future.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about The New Up at http://www.thenewup.com/ or www.myspace.com/thenewup. Better Off will hit shelves on August 18, 2009. Keep checking The New Up’s web site for updated release information.

Review: John O'Mara - Five Year Mission

John O'Mara - Five Year Mission
2009, John O'Mara

John O'Mara walked away from a tech job to start a five year mission to bring his mix of Alternative Rock and Eletro-New Wave to the world. Long a popular solo performer in Portland, Oregon, O'Mara got his first taste of electronic music as member of the duo Fuzzmonkey. O'Mara's debut album, Five Year Mission, brings an eclectic mix of sounds from the 1980's and today that have been compared to bands such as Joy Division, The Cure and The Talking Heads. Produced by Sean Flora (The Shins, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Franz Ferdinand), Five Year Mission is likely to turn some heads.

O'Mara opens with Your Sister, an Electro-Folk musical decoupage that is difficult to follow. The track is not representative of the album as a whole and is probably not the best foot forward O'Mara could have selected, but it’s a decent listen. Amiss has a great mix of New Wave sound and Pop sensibility that made bands like The Cure and Talking Heads such behemoths in the 1980s. This is Pop songwriting that also has a future as a dance club hit. Happy Hour explores the dark side of that weekly celebration, in which happiness is a goal that's never achieved, and perhaps moves even further out of reach as the bridge of drinks grows longer. Happy Hour is perhaps the most traditional Pop/Rock/Alternative songwriting on the disc, reminding me a bit of Elvis Costello in the process.

Made Of Stone mixes upbeat dance sounds with the deep melancholy and pathos that characterized the 1980's new wave music that paved the way for Goth's birth, whereas The Broken Part reminded me a bit of some of Steven Page's darker work with Barenaked Ladies (i.e. Call And Answer). I Saw You is a breath of fresh air, an acoustic guitar based piece featuring the mesmerizing Morgan Grace in a duet with Latin roots. O'Mara has found his way back to the root of his muse here and the results are stunning. Satellite Radio has a David Bowie feel to it, right down to the vocal style, but isn't quite up to Bowie standards. Five Year Mission closes out with It Is Done, a mix of eclectic electric sounds, organic music and effects.

Five Year Mission proves one thing, John O'Mara was right to quit his day job. The album is very much based in the New Wave style of the 1980's but has enough current Alt-Rock buzz to make it an appealing hybrid of styles. This isn't necessarily an album that's going to do well on traditional radio, but college and internet stations will have a field day with John O'Mara, and the licensing deals can't be far behind. From a listener's standpoint, the album is an excellent find with a few bumps. O'Mara may still be figuring out where he's head musically, but he's definitely headed in a direction you'll want to follow.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about John O’Mara at www.myspace.com/fuzzzmonkey, where you can purchase a copy of Five Year Mission.