For a band described as something in between 7 SECONDS AND AC/DC this record isn’t really as electrifying as one would hope, granted the opening minute of the album does invite excited thoughts and expectations by the dozen but the following half an hour fails to live up to these expectations. For the most part this New Jersey based band play what I would only consider to be mid-paced and somewhat forgettable punk with a heavy pop-tinge.
A harsh first paragraph perhaps? Maybe so, after multiple listens however I just really can’t get into this release at all. I find the vocals absolutely cringe-worthy; they’re very nasally and the melodies for a band clearly attempting to be melodic are largely unmemorable and fail to hit the spot on many levels with perhaps the exception being found on the fifth track; ‘Something to Believe in’.
Musically the band seems to be trying to be slightly different from the present pop-punk clones hailing from Southern California and they do succeed. The downside is that different does not always mean better, or refreshing, or revolutionary, or (add similar superlative here). This album is quite strange in that it sounds like it could have been released in the early 90’s or even earlier, I can’t quite describe what I mean exactly, but there certainly is something that keeps it from sounding like a contemporary release not just in the songs but in the grainy production too.
I’ve found this a fairly hard album to review, I’m curious as to why but all I can come up with is that it just hasn’t been able to make any sort of lasting impression on me at all. There’s nothing I violently dislike about this release, admittedly the vocals grate more than I can cope with but they are the only real distinguishable feature I can trace, so by that logic there isn’t much of a positive nature I can refer to. LET IT BURN are trying to be different and stand out from the crowd, however there is a lack of attention grabbing material here and that is where I think this release suffers most
-Mike
www.letitburnonline.net