Adios "The Ropes" CD
[Tribunal]
This is another relatively surprising release from the apparently diversifying (thankfully) Tribunal label. The band basically plays laidback emo/indie rock with calm singing, light distortion, and fairly simplistic song structures that are heavy on the driving melody with a little bit of a harder hitting edge. I'm not sure I'd compare them to anything. A few older bands such as Christie Front Drive and Boilermaker come to mind, but barely... this isn't quite as dark, but it's not too poppy at the same time. "Tides" is an amazingly powerful track, very rhythmic and definitely strong in the chorus department, while the more somber "Ghost Writing" is also a nice composition with some excellent vocal harmonization. This is a really flowing listen in its entirety, everything pieces together well and at 40 minutes refrains from getting bland or tiresome. A few minor inconsistencies with the sound hint at hindering that congruity, but don't become a real setback in so much as interrupting playback. As far as the sound, the vocals can be mixed way too loud at times, but thankfully they tend to fall back with the music more often than not. The somewhat biting treble of the jangly semi distorted guitars can also be mildly problematic, but the drums sound totally natural, and the bass is easily audible, which is nice. I'd say warm up those drums, give the bass even more of a push, clean up the guitars a tad, and there you go. It sounds pretty good as is. Inconsistent on some level, but good. The layout is quite minimal. Three color photos, one black and white photo, all of which in some way sort of reference the sky and driving. I think the photo on the front cover sort of blows compared to the others, but shit happens I guess. No lyrics are included or anything, just some of the recording information and all that jazz. I dig this. A strong release from a band that's only a few steps away from really hitting on something wonderful. (6/10)
Running time - 39:31, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Tides, Ghost Writing, Casino]
Tribunal Records - http://www.tribunalrecords.com

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