Everybody wants to be Fred Durst – may God have mercy on us.<\/p>\n
The latest band to enter the already-too-crowded fray,
\nGroovenics, mixes angst and rap with a touch of pop sensibility –
\nor at least the band’s version thereof. Led by vocalist K*rl
\nMichaels (no, that’s not a typo, the star replaces an “a” in his
\nname), Groovenics’ self-titled debut is a disarrayed collective of
\ntracks featuring a band uncertain as to which musical direction
\nthey wish to go.<\/p>\n
The band – Michaels, guitarists Jim Austin and Matt Swig,
\nbassist Pete Carmichael, keyboardist Josh Mullenix and drummer Mike
\nDarookie – plows through 13 songs trying their best to create some
\ntype of cross between Limp Bizkit and Nine Inch Nails, never really
\ncapturing the essence of either band well enough to pull things
\noff. By rote, the band is competent enough on their respective
\ninstruments – all well and good, but the material is pretty much
\ndevoid of emotional attachment for the listener.<\/p>\n
I’m not certain where the problem lies – either in songwriting
\nor execution – but therein lies the key to unlock the potential for
\nsuccess for Groovenics. Songs like “Just Right,” “Spooy” and
\n“Superstar” all potentially could have been something noteworthy,
\nbut the pursuit of a specific musical style (and not hitting the
\nmark) sinks these efforts.<\/p>\n
The pop influence comes on tracks like “She’s A Freak,” which
\nalmost tries to send
\nGroovenics<\/i> into a Tone-Loc meets 2 Live Crew style of
\nsongwriting (without the sexual bragadoccio). It’s most definitely
\nan experiment – and one that fails to get off the ground creatively
\nor musically. The attempt to show hipness through sexuality (on
\n“Booty Barn”) is so out of place on this disc that it feels like an
\nafterthought – no, check that, it smacks of zero thought.<\/p>\n
Further attempts at pop stylings are heard on the group’s cover
\nof Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me” – an effort which is
\npretty well butchered. (Never mind the fact I always thought the
\noriginal track was a throwaway.) Maybe it was in the interpretation
\nthat this one faltered – or maybe it was the source material itself
\n– but it’s not the strongest way for a band to close the opening
\nstatement of their career.<\/p>\n
\nGroovenics<\/i> is an underdeveloped album featuring a group
\nwhich does not seem like they know what to do with themselves, and
\nwho have not found their own unique musical voice. Here’s hoping
\nthey’re pointed in the right direction soon; after all, those who
\nfollow flashes in the pan tend to have an even shorter shelf
\nlife.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6651],"rating":[11205],"class_list":["post-37206","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-groovenics","rating-rating-d-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37206"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37206"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}