Power pop is not dead; it’s alive, well and has taken the form
\nof the Hoboken, New Jersey-based trio Shades Apart.<\/p>\n
After slugging it out for years on independent labels and
\nbuilding up a respectable discography, the band –
\nvocalist\/guitarist Marc V., bassist\/vocalist Kevin Lynch and
\ndrummer Ed Brown – have finally hit the big time with their major
\nlabel debut
\nEyewitness<\/i>, and they make their mark felt quickly and
\nrepeatedly. If there was one band I had to pick as the one to watch
\nin 1999, these would be the guys I’d choose in a heartbeat.<\/p>\n
Despite their punk rock leanings, Shades Apart is, at its core,
\na pop band who just happen to know how to put some barre-chorded
\nmuscle behind their music. Early into the album, one realizes this
\nas tracks like “Sputnik,” “Stranger By The Day” and “100 Days” all
\nunfold to show themselves as the gems they are.<\/p>\n
Normally, I’d be able to pick one song out of the bunch as the
\nhighlight, but in the case of Shades Apart, it’s impossible. Do I
\npoint out the reggae-like riffs melting into a frenzied chorus in
\n“100 Days”? Do I call attention to the tango-like beats of
\n“Stranger By The Day”, culminating in the classical guitar outro?
\nOr do I mention the all-out pop frenzy and spectacular guitar work
\non “Sputnik”? It’s impossible to choose, and I can’t – no, change
\nthat, I
\nwon’t<\/i>. They’re all too damn good.<\/p>\n
Just when you think that there are no more surprises on
\nEyewitness<\/i>, Shades Apart hits you upside the head with a
\ntwist from out of nowhere. There’s the opening guitar riff on the
\nfirst single “Valentine” that suggests someone watching old movies
\nand trying to reclaim a past that is not theirs to take anymore. I
\nswear, the first time I heard this song, I was almost in tears on
\nthat riff alone. Or maybe it’s the closing one-two punch of
\n“Gabrielle” and “Speed Of Light” that reminds the listener just how
\ngood this band is as they’re saying their goodbyes for the moment –
\nat least until you hit the “play” button on the CD player
\nagain.<\/p>\n
Is everything on
\nEyewitness<\/i> stellar? Honestly, no, but even the weaker
\nmoments aren’t anything to be ashamed of. Tracks like “Time
\nMachine” and “Second Chances” might not be on the same level as the
\nbulk of the material on
\nEyewitness<\/i>, but something tells me that these tracks would
\nhave stood out on any other album.<\/p>\n
Shades Apart is a band with a very bright future, and
\nEyewitness<\/i> is a first-person account of their first step
\ntowards superstardom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7384],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-38944","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-shades-apart","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38944","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=38944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38944"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}