|
 When the music you craft is an infectious
brand of pop, punk, emo and good ol’ fashioned rock that puts smiles on
faces and encourages even the most desolate of souls to dance ‘round
their rooms and sing a long, calling your debut ‘A Darker Place’, at
first glance, might not seem entirely appropriate.
Yet listening to such an album, from local outfit, The Gekko, it quickly
becomes clear that such a title is, actually, totally appropriate.
Kicking off with the flitting, jaunty riff that builds into the driving
opening track, ‘Appology’, an undercurrent of darkness, even perhaps,
dare we suggest, melancholy does show it’s teeth, only to be kicked in
them squarely with some intense vocals and beating guitars that make the
entire thing very enjoyable.
Things continue with ‘Dice Man’, breaking out of a ‘Hey! Hey! Hey!’
chant that you’ve got to imagine would sound awesome when repeated by a
rabid live crowd and into a fast, energetic track full of energy and
vigour.
The dual guitar assault of Craig Benyon and Adam ‘Sadz’ Stewart
scraping, stabbing and leaping atop of bounding basslines courtesy of
Tom McCooey and Andy Heap’s tight drums whilst vocalist Mark Rawlinson
lets his brooding, Billie Joe Armstrong like vocals wail and soar to the
skies and back.
It’s a great track, and easily one of the highlights.
Things slow down somewhat with ‘Misery’, adding a great sense of the
epic to a slower, gentler number with a haunting lead licking over a
rock hard rhythm.
If this track is evidence of anything, it’s just how good music can
sound when talented musicians work really well together.
Individually, every instrument can be heard working its magic all on its
own, slick bass, scraping guitars, dramatic drums and haunting vocals,
yet coming together as it does so well here, it’s like five pieces of a
puzzle coming together in harmony and sounding phenomenal.
For reasons we can’t put our finger on, 12:15 has a great American
sensibility to it, reminding us for no particular reason we can rightly
explain, of My Chemical Romance.
Before long, we find ourselves faced with easily our favourite song on
the album, ‘Out of My Head’, a righteously fun blues-soaked number
which, not for the first time, reminds us somewhat of Pearl Jam and
dares comparisons to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers without ever actually
sounding like either of them.
Then, before we know it, things slam to a finale with the furiously
energetic stomper, ‘Feeling Fine’, which cranks up the energy levels
till the dial snaps and packs more passion and pure unadulterated rock
in it’s few short minutes than many a band fail to do in an entire
album.
And as the song comes to an end, it seems there’s really only one thing
to do, hit play and repeat the whole thing over, after all, when you’ve
just heard one of the most exciting albums to hit your stereo all year,
playing it just the once really doesn’t do it justice.
Recommended Link:
►
www.myspace.com/thegekko
►
Return to Album
Reviews
|
