Written
by Pamela Bellmore, posted by blog admin
New
York City based four piece Rejectionist Front’s second studio album Evolve
avoids any of the wavering we sometimes hear from an act’s sophomore release
and, instead, refines their songwriting template and consolidates their
position as one of the rising indie rock outfits working today. Fronted by
singer/songwriter Michael Perlman with Lincoln Prout single handedly taking
care of the band’s guitar duties, the album’s twelve songs show off
Rejectionist Front’s influences without ever sounding like slavish imitation.
There are some obviously commercial rock songs included on Evolve, but there
are some more artful and idiosyncratic tunes included on Evolve that often veer
past hard rock and into top shelf prog metal reminiscent of a harder edged
Pearl Jam or Queensryche with a crucial difference coming with how Rejectionist
Front only boasts a single guitarist rather than two. Produced by World2Be
Entertainment, Rejectionist Front’s second release has a powerhouse
presentation guaranteed to capture the attention of both casual and hardcore
fans.
There’s
definitely an exultant quality to some of Rejectionist Front’s music that,
thankfully, eschews any heavy handedness or over-simplifications. This quality comes
across at a few key points during Evolve and one of the most notable is the
album’s opener “Ride”. It’s also a powerful illustration of the rare vocal
strengths they bring to a style and genre not ordinarily known for acts with a
top shelf vocal presentation. They pursue their Muse down a more solidly
traditional hard rock avenue with the second track “All I Am” and Perlman shows
off, for the first time, the capacity for adapting his voice to a song’s
demands. “Savior” continues in that traditional hard rock vein with a
particularly punchy chorus and more of the outsized guitar muscle that defines
the album’s songwriting as a whole.
Rejectionist
Front tempers the brash, even bellicose, spirit of their music for the song “All
is the Same” but this more even-handed, restrained approach still bears
signatures of their style and fits in rather well with the surrounding material.
“Reclaim” revisits the anthemic potential of the album’s first song and, like “Ride”,
refrains from pandering to listener’s conventions about such material. “Flush”
is a single from the album and it’s shortest track on a release where running
times are largely uniform with only a few notable exceptions. The sleek, lean musical
attack makes all the right choices if the song’s intent is immediacy and engaging
the audience and Perlman delivers one of the best vocals you’ll hear on Evolve.
The atmosphere of melancholic sensitivity pervading “Hold Or Break” contrasts
dramatically with the song’s heavier passages and the varying tempo of the song
nevertheless maintains the needed seamlessness for a coherent performance.
Evolve’s closing number “Inside of Me” is another more thoughtful and
orchestrated cut relying just as much on affecting vocal harmonies as it does
compelling guitar theatrics. The meditative spirit of the release provides a
valuable counterpoint to its boisterous, assertive sound and helps make it an
even better, more entertaining listen. Rejectionist Front are quite unlike many
rock bands working today and our music world is better for it.
