Amazing how a glowing press release can describe a
band completely the wrong way. Once I got past the awful band name,
I read that Bjork and Incubus influenced this band, but in their
music one can hear Led Zeppelin and Tool.
All I heard was Chevelle, which in itself is a lame
knockoff of Tool. This is nothing more than generic modern-rock
sludge, with a decent female singer playing the misunderstood us
vs. them role. Honestly, I don’t know if this is good music
anymore, because it’s been done to death by everyone since the
grunge breakup.
There is a lack of female talent on rock radio, with
Amy Lee being an exception, so it’s good to hear a woman’s voice
over the standard power chords, since women are capable of more
ranges and emotion than most male rock singers. The singer,
Romanian-born Julia Preotu, is on-key most of the time, and her
words kind of make sense, so I won’t complain too much.
Next on the release is a blurb about the band’s
tremendous range, which must mean they can sound like Incubus on
one song and Hoobastank on the other. I could picture this band in
a college bar entertaining some fans, and then sleeping through
class the next day.
The band shows occasional promise, as on parts of
“Save Me” and the slight Middle-Eastern influence of the title
track. And while the release mentions progressive rock, there is
absolutely nothing progressive here, at least until the title
track, where Preotu seems to rant against an ex-boyfriend (or
something) by talking and wailing over a restrained guitar. It’s
interesting for a couple minutes, I guess.
But by the time I made it to the end of this
seven-song EP, I had forgotten everything I just heard. At one
point, everyone wanted to be Led Zeppelin, but now everyone wants
to be Chevelle, and I couldn’t care less about whatever they have
to offer. If this is what passes for rock in 2005, I’ll gladly live
in 1975.
