Review: People - The Cliché

People - The Cliché
2009, PAS2 Productions

Have you ever listened to a band's CD and just known from the outset that they had fun making that record? That's the first impression I got listening to People's The Cliché. The Los Angeles band has been headlining top venues in LA and all along the west coast for the past two years and the buzz, which began as word of mouth rivulets, is set to explode. With production by Dave Jerden (Jane's Addiction, Alice In Chains, Mary's Danish) and Engineering by Bryan Carlstrom (Billy Idol, The Offspring), People took no chances with The Cliché; undoubtedly one of the most exciting Pop/Rock releases of the year thus far. Add to this the fact that The Cliché was bassist Gidget Gein's (Marilyn Manson) swan song and you have an EP full of great music, intrigue and not a little magic.

The Cliché opens with Song For The People, a danceable Rock song in the best 1980's tradition. Vocalist/guitarist Jimmy Young sounds like a cross between Escape Club's Trevor Steel and Corey Hart, alternately soaring and pouting through the vocal lines in a tradition with lineages in the heyday of Glam Rock. The EP's first single, The Kids, has already gotten some attention nationally for both the song and accompanying video. It's a sophisticated anthem of rebellion that smacks a bit too much of the album title, but is still enjoyable for all of that. Cheap Money plays with some tasty guitar riffs descended from Jimmy Page and takes on materialism and the culture of cities like Los Angeles. Young Luv is notable for the guitar work but the song itself didn't really make a big impression on me. The EP closes out with Tune In Turn On And Drop Out, a great Pop/Rock tune with real commercial bite. This may be the best song craft on the album and is a great closer.

People bring tremendous energy and a sense of fun to The Cliché, turning in a performance that's practically guaranteed to transform them from a regional powerhouse to a band with national name recognition. The only question is where they'll fit in a segmented media market where genres have become so insular and proprietary that few people even know what they mean anymore. People is an exciting band with a sound that's perfect for the stage, and an ability to craft big Rock songs with enough Pop sensibility to have labels lining up to speak with them. The Cliché is an incredible warning shot from People. If we're lucky, there will be more.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about People at http://www.peoplerock.us/ or www.myspace.com/peoplerock. As of publication no on-line outlets could be found to purchase The Cliché, whether digital or traditional. Keep checking People’s MySpace page for availability.

Review: Triptaka - Second War

Triptaka - Second War
2007, Triptaka

Triptaka is from Seattle but has it's roots in Ontario, Canada. Graeme Cornies, Dave Kelly and James Chapple have spent significant time writing music for corporate America, but find their greatest challenge and satisfaction creating their own brand of industrial alternative rock music as Triptaka. Their debut album, Second War, is a theme album about humanity fighting to keep it's better instincts intact. The theme runs through both humanist and religious philosophies, with descriptions as stark as "spiritual war" or as benign as "selling out". Triptaka certainly doesn't sell out on Second War, a surprisingly supple (for Industrial music) album full of a positive message bigger than itself.

Triptaka sounds like an odd conjugation of the Dave Matthews Band and Nine Inch Nails. Lead vocalist Graeme Cornies sounds quite a bit like Dave Matthews on the opening track, Suspended, but there's a definite harder edge that runs throughout Second War. The title track is in the style of early Metallica, whereas Tamed takes a much more pop/dance flavor into the heavy drum and bass mix. Mother is a more organic, acoustic based sound that is pleasant to the ears but retains a lot of the repressed energy that runs throughout the album. The Source heads for more ambient musical currents, sounding more like the bizarre dream born of a meditation gone haywire. Falling Down returns to the heavy metal pretense with a song that rocks harder than most of the hard edge bands on the market these days. Second War closes with Don't You Think It's Time You Let Go?; a melancholy ambient number that has licensing written all over it.

Triptaka takes risks on Second War. Some work and some don't. What comes across more than anything is the courage to create in any direction that takes Triptaka's fantasy, regardless of the market at hand. This is why I think in the long run Triptaka will succeed in the music business. The courage and ability to create for and from one's own muse in the face of commercial pressures marks the sort of character and lasting confidence that tends to carry a mediocre band to success, and a good band like Triptaka to maybe be a great one. Only time will tell, but Second War is a good start.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Triptaka at http://www.triptaka.com/ or www.myspace.com/triptaka. You can purchase a copy of Second War at www.cdbaby.com/cd/triptaka.