The Music – Welcome
to the North
By Zane Ewton
The Music is a band that has benefited
greatly by a large amount of buzz, including the label of “potentially
the most important group since Oasis” given to them by NME. In countries
other than England it might be arguable the importance of Oasis.
Now we will have to see if that buzz is
able to travel to shores outside of the UK and will be tested by the band’s
second full-length album Welcome to the North. Produced by
Brendan O’Brien, the Music is poised to start turning heads with their
massive guitar riffs and danceable drum beats.
Vocalist Rob Harvey’s voice resembles that
of Rush’s Geddy Lee. While the appeal of that kind of voice can be
a point of contention, Harvey’s voice fits the songs well and can be overlooked.
The rest of the band creates exciting sounds. Phil Jordan’s drums
are always busy and stand out in many tracks. Adam Nutter lays down
some thick guitar riffs and great leads.
If you are going to call your band The
Music you better be able to back it up. On these 11 tracks they do
back it up and they also lay the ground work for a future that could be
able to surpass the hype.
Welcome to the North is charged
with a sense of purpose. The songs break like a runaway train heading
for some undisclosed location. This pace is set with the first few
songs. The song “Freedom Fighters” has a riff as wide and deep as
a canyon. Guitars are all over this album, but this riff swings like
a sledgehammer.
The Music does not rely solely on monster
riffs but also ability for melody. The tension of the first half
of the album is relaxed in the middle with somewhat of a throwaway track,
“Fight the Feeling”, a mellow song that will give the listener a chance
to breath.
The remainder of the album slows the tempo
slightly, very slightly, but makes up for it with stronger emotional depth.
Welcome to the North is a loud album. The whole band plays
as if committed to a higher goal. Not a “spiritual” goal, just a
higher goal on a different plain.
Potential fans may be turned off by the
vocals as they can be hard to enjoy at times but there is plenty else to
be had with Welcome to the North.
Considering this is only The Music’s second
album, this is a band to get excited about for the future.
CD Info
The Music
– Welcome to the North
Label: Capitol
/ EMI Records
Rating:
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