Earlymay
"Stay Off Your Heels" CD
Mother
West
Genres: rock, alternative rock, indie rock
Mother West
132 West 26th St.
New York NY
10001
Aug 25 - 31 2003 |
How
many times is emotional rock going to be done and re-done until it
starts repeating itself? I'm shocked that Earlymay has managed
to take a type of music that has been done before so many times by so
many different people and still make it sound convincingly fresh.
Case in point. "Digital Green", arguably the album's best
track. It's got definite Interpol and Versus influences,
but still succeeds in being refreshing and unbearably catchy. Its
spacey, powerful chorus will be trapped in your head for days. The
title-track, meanwhile, is a powerful, epic explosion of a song; its
blaring guitar solos are one-upped by pounding percussion and
emotional vocals.
On the other hand, some of the other tracks aren't so successful.
"Come Around" is flat; its piano, vocal, and string base is
refreshing in concept yet done in a preachy, blasé manner.
"Built" goes for an epic guitar part but it ends up sounding
blocky and unspectacular. "Hesitate" is good until the end,
when it repeats its weak chorus too many times.
Earlymay have constructed a nice album with Stay Off Your
Heels, but not one without its faults. You'll have heard music
like this before, in both indie and alternative rock forms, but those
who like epic, emotional rock won't have a problem with a little more.
76%
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 10 tracks, distributed by the
label, released 2003] |