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An impressive EP that sounds like it was lost in time.-
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| Rival Sons: Rival Sons |
Blues, Hard Rock
Earache Records
May 17th, 2011
- Get What's Coming - 4:04
- Torture - 3:36
- Radio - 3:06
- Sacred Tongue - 3:24
- Sleepwalker - 5:30
- Soul - 6:16
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| Review Information |
Release length: 30:48
Review posted on May 10th, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 8/10 |
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| Review |
Rival Sons is a Blues/Hard Rock act that hails from Southern California. The group signed with Earache Records recently, and issued a six song EP simply enetitled Rival Sons. The material on the EP takes the Hard Rock scene back to some of the earlier Rock styles with plenty of emotion driven by Southern Blues, something that some bands today are trying to recreate and failing miserably at. Rival Sons, however, manage to pull off that genuine sound and atmosphere with ease for this release.
The production to the EP is one of the things to take notice about with this EP. While the release sounds somewhat modern, it has a slightly raw quality to it that makes it sound a little hollow in an analog sense, working with the release to create an atmosphere that feels like you're listening to a recording directly from the late seventies into the early eighties. It's an interesting aspect that many bands can't seem to use properly, but in this case it excentuates the raw emotion of the music. The vocals on the recording are the only problem with the production. Due to how loud the vocalist gets in driving home the emotional vibe of the music, they can become more obnoxious at times then anything, and if performed low, they can almost be drowned out with the music. The volume is more thanks to the effect on the vocals causing them to echo loudly.
Between the six songs, the general vibe remains the same. The songs generally feel fun, though the lyrical content may not always be that upbeat, such as the song "Torture". However, it's clear there's plenty of energy in the mix. "Radio" comes off as a song one might have heard over the radio back in the glory day of Southern Rock 'n Roll. The music is very upbeat and energetic with some technicality in the guitars with a fantastic rhythm and beat that will have your head bobbing along. The bass has a moment here that shines through as well, though it's clearly audible in this song and others, as it plays along the general beat to fill the silence while the guitar gets ready to chime in with a solo, and then after the solo the guitar takes a break and chimes in once in a while with random chords while the drums and bass take center stage for a little while in the mix, really adding some great variety to the mix, leading to a great energetic conclusion where everything just picks up and becomes crazy for the remaining seconds of the song.
But while much of the EP comes off as energetic, there's also some of that Blues passion in the music. This shows through on "Sacred Tongue", a slower acoustic piece that slowly builds up as the track goes on, but never to a big climax. Instead, the vocals push the song along to show a great amount of emotion in the track that shows on "Get What's Coming" vocally, and even with some music on "Sleepwalker", but neither to this extent, vocally or even musically. There's also a strong emotion to the track "Soul", another slower paced track that feels like it would have been the song used at a school dance for that final slow dance, or would accompany the ending creditys of a nostalgic television show like The Wonder Years. "Sleepwalker" actually shows some signs of a more Rock oriented version of today's Sludge style, which is intriguing and well executed, though the guitars don't really carry that vibe through the whole track and do go to a more hopping sound for the main verses. The inclusion of the harmonica really helps to add the Southern emotion to the music, which also appears in other tracks, but the chorus really finds good use for it, though it's still rather limited overall.
Overall, Rival Sons is a good EP, and while the vocals can be an issue, there's nothing necessarily bad about it, and it's an enjoyable experience for those looking to find a throwback to the days of emotional and energetic Rock. The Blues addition to the music is nice and gives it a more unique touch in today's musical times. If you don't have a strong appreciation for this type of music, or were never a fan of the vinyl sound from the earlier days of this style of Rock, then it may not intrigue you as much, but the release is still worth sampling, mostly for the nostalgic vibe of the atmosphere, and the overall performance.
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Digital review copy of this release provided by:
Earache Records.
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