|
Review: Jack Foley
GOING off the strength of Crackout's second album, Oh No!,
the band would appear to be on the cusp of great things.
Sitting comfortably between the sort of indie Britpop of early
Cure, or Gene, and the current trend for American punk rock, the
Buckinghamshire-based lads prove equally adept at each.
Former singles, Out of Our Minds (which opens the album
in energetic fashion), and This Is What We Do (an IndieLondon
faovurite), are typical of what to expect - although not entirely.
Crackout can also tone it down, play it mellow, or crank it up,
and well and truly rock-out, in the American sense of the word.
There is a rawness about the sound of the album, borne out in
the brash guitars and crisp vocals, which makes it sound fresh
and exciting, while the short running time fits the bill perfectly.
Singer/guitarist, Steven Eagles, seems to have a fondness for
Robert Smith's vocal style, while some of his guitar work is reminiscent
of early Cure - before much of their work became epic in length.
Lyrics such as 'sixteen barrels of insects, pour them all
over my head', on Insect Song, also go some way to
provoking comparisons with Lullaby's style of songwriting, while
the chiming guitars of tracks such as Wait and Pale
feel Cure-inspired.
It is during these moments that the album feels strongest, eschewing
early Britpop values with carefree abandon, and presenting Crackout
at their most catchy.
The larger rock numbers, though, are just as good, even if they
are less likely to appeal to as wide a fanbase.
All This Colour, for instance, is a good rock track, if
a little too prone to veering into Hundred Reasons territory,
while the sweeping Robots Have Feelings could quite easily
be the type of track that Bush produce for the American grunge-rock
market.
That said, such moments are in short supply, meaning that the
catchy likes of Freakin' Night and the laidback Feel
At Home are what linger in the memory longest.
Crackout, it seems, have delivered a little cracker.
|
 |
Track listing:
1. Out Of Our Minds
2. Insect Song
3. This Is What We Do
4. Wait
5. Freakin' Night
6. All This Colour
7. Pale
8. Way Too Long
9. Robots Have Feelings
10. Feel At Home
|
