Comeback Kid: Proving doing what's right is both welcomed and easily forgettable
Written: Aug 06 '07 (Updated Aug 07 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Intense and very much alive
Cons: Short; lyrics aren't worth bragging about; lacks intricate cohesion
The Bottom Line: Can't wait for college, has a tan, and is going to be reviewing like mad
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| smarterthan3's Full Review: Broadcasting... by Comeback Kid |
Canadian quartet Comeback Kid (Equipped with new vocalist Andrew Neufeld, I'm informed) is the epitome of the way music (Hard rock/metal music at its center that loses a little intimidation as it grows branches), in general, should be played. And I'm not saying the mainstream has a misconception of what hard music is, but the other day somebody labeled a Chris Daughtry song hard rock in my presence. And I'm not so fanatical that I began seething with rage, but I wouldn't have minded sticking a pair of headphones in his ears and having him give a half-hour listen to CBK's 2007 release, "Broadcasting..." and sortof enjoyed the reaction. But I can be something of a quiet kid.
"Well, Bob, I'll tell you what isn't quiet, and that's this album." #1 track "Defeated" opens up, predictably, with some low-key guitar distortions before vocalist Andrew catches the wave of gasoline and aims for the eye of the storm. Anthematic group shots come way too early in the track to make much of an impact, but a rough-n-tumble tone is definitely set in between the opening shred and concluding fadeout of "I'm too exhausted for the long haul." The title track opens up with flirtatious strings soaked in melancholy before another tornado chock full of riffs, drum abuse and sudden starts, stops and drops whirls down the street, grabbing everything off the ground and later dropping it in their same positions. Desperate half-bursts of vocal hot air give added intensity to a track soaked in suspense. If you consider yourself a fan of in general, reach down in your pocket for $.99 and download "Broadcasting..." I consider it the best track to be found here.
Drummer Kyle Profeta makes sure to make the listener feel like the guy who wrote the title to "Hailing on Me" with a vicious attack on the eardrums administered through pervasive slaps of wood against material stretched to the breaking point. The lyrics almost simultaneously draw you in and alienate you with the sheer rock wall of their ambiguity, and the track is just a thrill ride throughout. "The Blackstones" makes itself memorable in this album's world thanks to a more personalized lyrical account. The music is still jarring, though never crushing, but a lyrical change of pace helps the song escape from the potential of being mundane. The same can't be exactly said for "Industry Standards." It's not that the album has reached a breaking point, it's just that the ingredients here just don't mix well enough to add up to anything but a gray, albeit it bubbling, concoction.
Part of what makes this album above its peers, in one area, is the relatively easy task it is to consume it in one sitting. There is repetition, don't doubt it, but it seems each track adds a little trick or emphasizes a different part of the equation that makes it rarely the same listen twice. I've criticized other bands for using this trick but, sometimes in the arena, that is all that's needed to make the entire album go down easy in one swallow. For example, "One Left Satisfied" would be alot less enjoyable if it weren't for the lyrical storyline, though scattered and fragmented it may be. Likewise, "In Case of Fire" benefits from a tale of a crumbling relationship that rarely gets focused, or told this plainly, in the genre's writing circle. And, while it may seem monotonous to describe the song as simultaneously aching and raging, it doesn't feel like that when I listen to it. But a lyrical storyline itself cannot hold a song together and that is what sometimes makes songs falter. The band has to realize that there is more to throwing bountiful riffs and fierce vox against the wall and taking a picture of what sticks. "Come Around" immediately comes to mind when discussing such things. But when the band does make an obvious effort to make a cohesive number, the result is "Market Demands," and I'm done with negatives this paragraph. There are hints of a structure with a few bars that resemble a chorus and a pre-chorus that holds the satisfying glint of a hook.
Comeback Kid is just another victim of being several years too late to really make a difference or a true name for themselves in their genre. Without a doubt there are people who play purer, fiercer and more creatively but when you can find a band that does it's responsibility, nothing more, nothing less you can (a) re-realize your initial reason why you started listening to this music in the first place and (b) have a fulfilling experience that you can feel good about afterwards (In contrast to listening to a watered-down artist, for one example). The album doesn't last long (early 30's in the minute depot), occasionally folds into itself and isn't incredible by any stretch of the imagination. But it's solid and for sporadic purchases you'd be more then happy to have that guaranteed.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
smarterthan3
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Member: Jim
Reviews written: 194
Trusted by: 52 members
About Me:
If I was worth dying for, this God is worth living for
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