Written
by Pamela Bellmore, posted by blog admin
No
one can accuse Slow Burning Car of predictability. Their avowed influences like
Queens of the Stone Age and Foo Fighters promise guitar histrionics galore, but
they also embrace psych pop pioneers Love and German art rockers Can and you
discern those strains running through Slow Burning Car’s lyrical and musical
approach. They bring these seemingly disparate elements together with a
coherence and seamlessness that’s bracing to listen to. The ten songs included
on their fourth studio release, Defection, never opt for well traveled roads –
even traditionally slanted passages are, invariably, spiked with some sense of
surprise that sends them off into new trajectories. It’s deeply gratifying to
hear a band working with such a level of inspiration four albums into their
career – Slow Burning Car are still growing, still searching, and each new
release clearly brings them ever closer to the peak of their expanding powers.
It
gets off to a great start with the mid tempo riffer “Alpha Duplicor” and the
rhythm section of bassist/vocalist Troy Spiropoulos and drummer Adam Idell lay
down a monumental foundation for the band’s two guitar attack to fire salvos
over. The band’s musical and lyrical approach, alike, never panders to the
lowest common denominators and provides entertaining, yet intelligent, artistic
experiences for listeners. The second song “Soul Crimes” will justifiably
garner a lot of notice as one of the album’s most energetic rockers and it
definitely works as an example of the band’s sound at its most unified and
outright aggressive. Spiropoulos really excels here with a varied singing
performance. The punky stomp driving “Devil in the Room” doesn’t mince much
musically and, despite its jagged attitude, has a remarkably clean and
commercial sound sacrificing zero credibility along the way. Spiropoulos gives
listeners an appropriately cawing, defiant vocal that fits the song to a T.
The
palpable swagger and swing Spiropoulos and Idell whip up in the opening moments
of “The Sunday Derby” is enough alone to sustain the song, but Slow Burning Car
soon takes things a step further and their creative spin on this song is enough
to dizzy even experienced music fans. “You Can’t Stay Here” is another definite
nod to the band’s punk inspirations with its lean, clinched fist guitar attack
and the take no prisoners feel personifying the song. “Bedtime” and
“Chrysanthemum” alike are very different tunes than the preceding tracks and
the band’s unabashed fluency with acoustic sounds makes them every bit as
colorful, in their own respect, as the electric guitar fueled attack in the
earlier tracks. They are even bold enough to toss an instrumental into the mix
as the album’s nominal centerpiece tune – “Polar Warden” is both intensely
musical and theatrical, yet the absence of vocals is never felt as the
arrangement proves so commanding. The conclusion “Clouds” brings everything to
a graceful rest while still embodying the same attitude we heard on earlier
numbers. Slow Burning Car’s fourth release is definitely their most fully
realized yet and we get a sense from this album that the band may be reaching
another peak in their development.
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