At the turn of the decade, a series of bands came out with
albums under the Universal umbrella. Of those bands, the power-pop
trio Shades Apart impressed me the most with their album
Eyewitness. The solid songwriting and absolute power of that
album – combined with the placement of their song “Stranger By The
Day” on the
American Pie soundtrack – suggested great things ahead for
this group.
Now, we’re nearing the halfway point of 2001, and only one of
those bands has become superstars. You can see this coming a mile
away – it wasn’t Shades Apart. Damn.
Their latest disc,
Sonic Boom, suggests that people should give them a second
chance at stardom, even if they do get off to a slower than
expected start.
The band – guitarist/lead vocalist Mark V., bassist/vocalist
Kevin Lynch and drummer Ed Brown – stick to the same formula that
should have brought them success on
Eyewitness: to-the-point, tightly-written songs with a
slight punk edge and more than a little radio-friendly atmosphere.
They also bring a slightly more stylish production sound – and this
works against Shades Apart at the beginning.
Tracks like “Conspiracy,” “Gravity” and “Beat The Beat” don’t
have the same kind of catchiness and snap that the opening tracks
from
Eyewitness had. They also sound a little too sterilized for
the group’s good – a suggestion that things might not improve as
the album proceeds.
Fortunately for the listener, Shades Apart got some kind of
wake-up call at about the one-third mark, and the remainder of
Sonic Boom is used to play a serious game of catch-up.
Luckily, tracks like “Got Shot Down,” “Behind The Wheel” and
“Superzero” have the same qualities that made the shoulda-been hits
on Eyewitness so enjoyable. Even the cute factor of “Rebel Teenager
From Mars” works for the band, taking the traditional “forbidden
love” tale and putting a new twist on the plot.
What Shades Apart needed to do on
Sonic Boom was to come out with all guns blazing, proving to
people that the powerhouse that was
Eyewitness was no fluke. By not putting their A-list songs
at the start of the disc, the band is forced to climb out of the
hole they created for the rest of the album – and sadly, many
people might judge this disc on the first three or four songs.
Sonic Boom is not quite the follow-up that was expected from
Shades Apart, but it shows more than a few signs of life. Here’s
hoping the third time in the majors will be the charm.
2001 Christopher Thelen and “The Daily Vault”. All rights
reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without
written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of
Republic / Universal Records, and is used for informational
purposes only.
