Elevenseven records bring us Chĕ – a female fronted rock combo, allegedly on a mission to prove “gimmick free female fronted rock music is not an alien concept.” In the band's biog it claims front girl Lydia Papaphilippopoulos (tongue twister if these guys get big!) distances herself from mainstream icons such as Amy Lee, Courtney Love and Brody Dalle. Shame it doesn’t mention a certain Miss Lavigne amongst that crowd. Chĕ won’t escape this comparison, because it’s lazy and because it’s simple. I don’t mean to be lazy and simple, but it is what 99.9% of the people who listen to this record will think. Simple as.
To be fair, their music is actually a lot heavier and a lot less corporate than our darling Avril offers and the backing vocals provided by the rest of the male made up band give the E.P more life and more energy, something quite often female vocalists of this style can restrict. Lydia’s voice I must add often contains certain resemblances to Irish chart toppers The Corrs. Moving away from the voice and on to the CD. I admit I like it, and I like it a lot; it’s something I would listen to again and again and enjoy if it came on the TV 2 or 3 times a day. Lead track “Chase the Day” is a catchy blend of melodic bubblegum girly vocals and up-beat pop-rock guitars with an addictive lead riff which entertains you enough to want another few listens. It is the most corporate song on the CD by far, as it is the one that refrains from adding the screaming.
Track 3, “Awaiting Your Orders” combines the pop and adds the screaming in a more dominant way, which I believe carves a very mixed up sound, leaving not necessarily a poor song, just difficult to take in particularly in the mid section on 2 minutes 40. I also feel this track is unnecessarily long. This making in my opinion track 2 “Awaiting Your Orders” the best hit on the record by far. This song has a heavier sound, and the screaming is used more appropriately, especially as Lydia contributes some extra power. The bands aggression is demonstrated at the end of the track with the forceful shouting.
I do get the impression these guys are very young performers, but this 3 track holds stacks of potential and I would love to see this band live. Anyone on the search for a British Avril Lavigne with hardcore roots walk this way….
Pete
