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rapid cities Indie / Progessive / Punk

NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey Verenigde Staten Profielweergaven:  47692 Laatste login:  18-8-2010 Weergeven van mijn: Afbeeldingen | Video's | Playlists

Rapid Cities- Machinery Saints (Love/Hate Rec) Oh, there are plenty of reasons I'm not the biggest fan of New Jersey; Rapid Cities can't pump your own gas, can't make left turns (or is it right turns?), and the upstate area has never been kind to me in general on my many visits there over the years. However, all the amazing music coming out of jersey over the years has just about made up for this- i.e. Lifetime, Rorschach, Sticks and Stones and more recently Transit. Add Rapid Cities onto that list of great bands from the Garden State. These New Brunswick kids debut LP is a fantastic collection of post-hardcore rockers, drawing inspiration from the early 90's DC scene and adding some nice mathy dynamics to their strong melodies. Articulate and intelligent, Rapid Cities inject powerful musicanship over dissonant guitar work and driving rhythms. Music like this was much more common a decade ago, but they guys manage to give a very modern day feel onto a genre rarely played anymore. Machinery Saints will occasionally remind you of you all your post-hardcore faves like Fugazi or Refused but are just as likely to make you miss your Braid and Joan of Arc records as well. Ultimately, Rapid Cities - Machinery Saints Rapid Cities are paving a path all their own and this is an excellent starting point. These guys are very soon going to be breaking out of playing basement shows and headlining clubs- just you wait! The concern my ears occasionally have with the angular dissonance of post-core emo rock is that, in the process of deconstructing the customary components of pop-rock song craft, bands frequently lose focus amidst the swirl of sounds. Like a boat rollicking on the open sea during a tumultuous storm that removes any and all of sense of direction, Rapid Cities - Manhattan'S Hymn sometimes it’s crucial to drop anchor in hopes of not losing direction amidst the pounding wind and waves. Youthful zeal and attitude can only get you so far in your musical journey. Serving as a prime example of what I’m discussing here is Machinery Saints, the debut full-length by Rapid Cities. This quartet out of New Brunswick, NJ is an energetic bundle of righteous anger whose sound is fueled by kinetic guitar runs and tight time signature work. We’re not talking about some slick Hot Topic/MTV outfit with floppy hair, eyeliner, and cheesy bleeding teenaged heart. These guys are instead brimming with the sort of heady idealism that finds an outlet through singing socio-political lyrics filled with counter-cultural and anti-establishment themes. Rapid Cities takes great pains to harness punk furor with some strong math-rock and post-core textures into a coherent whole. Sadly, these styles are in conflict often enough to be a distraction, especially on “Jaunt On Dying Young,” “The N.R.A. And The N.W.A.,” and “Space Is Infinite.” There are some key instances when the band’s sonic blender works to great effect. “In My Mind,” “Most Of The Time,” and “My Arms Are the Anchors, My Legs Are The Sea” find these styles balanced and cooperating to the fullest. These three tracks only prove my point in that they are also the three longest songs on the album – when the band gives itself enough room to breathe, the various pieces eventually fall into place. I am quite anxious to hear where this band proceeds next. It’s more than evident that Rapid Cities has a huge collective heart, the kind that’s necessary to press through temporary setbacks to reach the eventual mountaintop. While Machinery Saints is a mildly frustrating mish-mash of influences, it serves as a capable first effort from a band trying to find its sea legs in the middle of a raging storm of emotions, beliefs, and music.

MySpace URL:    www.myspace.com/rapidcities