David Curtis Band – Down the Drain
Genre: Progressive Metal / Djent, Grunge, Alternative Rock
Similar artists: Soundgarden, Tool, Audioslave
There are certain kinds of bands that you can start with your friends when you are very young. You can start a punk band, you can learn to play AC/DC or Oasis songs, or you can all attempt to rap. All of these are beautiful things that will enrich your lives and possibly those of your listeners.
There are also types of bands that you should not bother your teenage friends with. These experiences will only serve to sever your relationships and sour the mood. Nobody starts a teenage band wanting to play prog-rock. Who has the time to learn all those scales? Nobody starts a jazz combo. Who has the time to study all those modes? And nobody starts an alt-rock band featuring towering vocals? Who has the time to learn to sing that well?
David Curtis Band’s Down the drain sounds like the result of experience and of many, many hours spent sharpening musical skills. The vocals, in particular, echo Chris Cornell’s Audioslave era. It’s a mighty mid-range howl that cuts through the mix. This happens while the instrumental passages show off the kind of inventiveness that would not feel out of place on a prog-metal concept record. Some things are best left off, and starting this kind of band might have been one of them.
Solar Moth – Whatever Forever
Genre: Garage Rock, Alternative Rock, Alt Pop
“Nothing ever really happens” is the complaint launched by Solar Moth about their world, and it could just as well be the story of modern-day rock n’ roll. It’s an era where every formula could have been having been used so many times that it’s becoming difficult to tell how many versions of the same song you are likely to have heard.
Older generations are, of course, laughing their heads off at the rotten deal that we’ve been given. After all, the whole point of pop culture was to provide a fresh new perspective constantly. The whole idea was to throw new ideas at the format so that there was no way that it could ever get boring.
Solar Moth’s Whatever Forever sounds like a tune made by people who are fighting to sabotage the modern music scene. This isn’t rock n’ roll sketched out in order to make friends, but rather to lose some. This slams through like a toddler throwing a fit in order to get attention. The true spirit of punk rock lives through bad records with plenty of heart made by people who are fed up, folks like Solar Moth.
