The Forty-Fives, Fight Dirty The Forty-Fives, an Atlanta-based four piece, are scholars of their rock ‘n’ roll trade, which unfortunately does not translate into rock greatness. They sound as if they have been taught how to sound bluesy. Singer Bryan Malone knows how to yell, or at the very least, knows how to sound scratchy. Still, just because someone knows the rules of grammar does not make them a great writer. And that’s the problem with the Forty-Fives.
Nothing on their latest release, Fight Dirty, stands outnothing. The songs are not terrible, but they are completely forgettable and indistinguishable from each other. There is not a song on Fight Dirty that isn’t musically upbeat, and that should lend itself perfectly to pop rock songs. Sadly, it doesn’t. The singing, rather than being anthemic, is just a bunch of shouted words.
Some bands, though, take longer to develop than others. Right now, the Forty-Fives sound like a mediocre rock-blues band that someone would hear in a dark and dingy bar near Memphis. There is potential in the Forty-Fives, but they still need a lot of work. Christinia Crippes, MUSE Staff
Burning Brides, Fall of the Plastic Empire It’s not often these days that an American rock group’s debut is worth our time, but every once in a while there is an album that really stands out. This is what Burning Brides have accomplished with their debut, Fall of the Plastic Empire. And they’ve somehow done this without including ‘the’ at the beginning of their name. How refreshing.
In this major label re-release, the Brides blaze through ten tracks of blistering and hypnotic hard rockthink stoner rock in the vein of Queens of the Stone Age but with an addictive pop sensibility. While stoner rock is the album’s main style, the Brides’ influences go far beyond that genre. There is a definite neo-psych influence, reminiscent of bands like Brian Jonestown Massacre.
Burning Brides, at times, throw in Beatles-style harmonies and Brit-pop undertones. This blend of concepts creates a work that is much more than just another stoner rock album. Fall of the Plastic Empire stands on its own and is a solid debut for this Philadelphia trio. Hopefully it will gain some of the praise that it justly deserves. Mike Purtill, MUSE Staff
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
