If Black Hat Villain's debut EP, "My Generation," showed up at your house to fix your washing machine, it would do so without taking off its work boots, asking you how your day is going, or stopping to use your washroom. It's a record that doesn't take a lot of risks, but is business-like and efficient in its approach.
The record gets down to work quickly and without pretension, with the eponymous first track more or less setting the tone of the record. Scotty Tuesday's vocals are rich and tasteful, and the band employs backing vocals to good effect. It's clear that these boys have taken queues from other hard rock bands of the last decade, and they've learned their lessons well. Choruses are big and full, guitar textures sit nicely on top of each other without muddiness, and the aforementioned rich vocals drive the music along without overpowering it.
The EP plays out nicely, at least in the order that I listened to it on their MySpace page (I can't say whether or not the physical CD has this tracklisting). The relentless rock of "My Generation" and "All My Friends Are Dead" is tempered by moodier tracks such as "Rain or Shine" and "One Way Street." There are plenty of quality head-banging moments in all of the tracks, but there's definitely an attention to ebb and flow that is refreshing from a band in this vein.
Maybe it isn't the most original rock I've ever heard in my life, but based on what I've heard here, I'll take a BHV record over a 3 Day's Grace one any day. The band have managed to straddle the fine line between being commercially viable and maintaining artistic credibility. I didn't find myself cringing at any of the sort of boneheaded party-rock lyrics that I might find on offer from a band like, say, Nickelback, though some lines could use some fleshing out: the closing track, "Country," for example, suffers from some of this awkwardness.
There's a real earnestness to this record, as if the band members really are pouring all of themselves into the songs. That's a good thing, because that's what making music is all about.
There's no denying that this is a band with a bright future, loaded with talent at all instruments, with good songwriting instincts and, from what I've been told, an extremely solid live set. All the ingredients are there, all BHV need is a bit more exposure, a bit of luck, and a lot more elbow grease to get there. It wouldn't hurt for them to experiment a bit more on the next record, try out some different sounds and get out of the 'hard rock bubble' that seems to predominate the genre. Still, they know what they're doing, and they do it well. I hope very much that it continues to find them success.
No comments:
Post a Comment