When: Released September 10, 2021
Why? I read a write-up in Classic Rock magazine that compared them to a number of bands I really like.
What? Described as blending pop, rock, and metal, the band deliver a 12-song, 43-minute album combining guitar-driven rock with horns, strings, heavy beats, captivating melodic harmonies, and inventive lyrics.
First Impressions: While the lyrics are sometimes a bit obscure (benefitting from repeated listening), and song structures can be quite fluid, the arrangements are fresh and often surprising, making this an album I know I’ll continue to come back to. When a single hit on the bell of a cymbal can make me laugh—in the terrific “Deal with Me”—I’m in.
Immediate highlights for me: “Sea Beast” (the opening track, which sets the stage for the album’s attitude and empowering message), “First Tooth,” “Dead Inside,” “Deal with Me,” and the closer, “Cure for Life,” which presents an especially catchy—and not-at-all heavy-handed—satire on nuclear war. For me, though, there wasn’t a single superfluous track on the album.
So? I loved the sound of the band, the vocals, and the arrangements. I can see myself putting this one on repeat.