Candle (Sick and Tired) by The White Tie Affair
The White Tie Affair have been long due to release an album particularly since their dance floor anthem, Allow Me to Introduce Myself, Mr Right. In the meanwhile they’ve been releasing various songs they hope to compile into this much anticipated album.
Candle (Sick and Tired) is one such track and it’s one of the songs that the band decided to keep on the new album, titled Walk This Way.
The band is clearly a protégé of something in between The Ataris and Panic! At the Disco. They don’t have the panache worthy of an exclamation mark in their band, if we settle for any punctuation it’ll just be brackets. But they certainly aren’t as lame as the kind of bands that try to give an over-the-top emo tribute to Don Henley classics. That’s why we said in between.
The track starts with an interesting upbeat electronica intro that reminds you of something in the soundtrack of The Beach but then as Chris Wallace’s vocals begin, you hear the standard voice of pop-punk and you know you’re heading for another one-of-those high school punch-party gigs. But hey it’s the kind of music that can actually get your gig into the playboy mansion too (TWTA did wind up performing at Hugh Hefner’s Pajama party last year) !
The song is another rah-rah tribute that pop-punk is alive and kicking still…for those of you who need reminders.
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I stand – by Idina Merzel
Tony award-winning Broadway star who was most famed for her performances in Rent and Wicked, Idina Merzel has released her third studio album and this is the title track from it.
Merzel worked with Glen Ballard – the man responsible for Alanis Morisette’s 16 times platinum debut, Christina Aguilera, Annie Lennox and Celine Dion – to produce the entire album. The title track is a fairly mellow song with a welcome hint of country – since we all once again love a little of that ‘put-the-dog-on’ twang since Taylor Swift swept into our lives and proved country cross-over doesn’t always sound as bad as a Shania Twain in a leopard-print body suit.
The song begins with a quiet and simple guitar intro, over which Merzel’s voice hovers like a lone-bird circling a point of view. And at first it is a little difficult to decide whether you’re heading in for an alt rock ballad or a fast-paced pop something. Then the track builds up to a faster pace, gathering momentum and more country-style antics before exploding into a powerful chorus. Merzel’s voice although sounds like a typical big-lunged country singer, it has a certain underlying rock-rawness that makes this one something more fresh than a Martina McBride or Faith Hill charttopper, though just as catchy.
Merzel’s the kind of singer who uses her theatrical background in the emotions of her singing style. It makes her voice as dynamic as it is big. And that’s why with songs like I Stand you could almost clutch your chest and extend your other arm across the sky, when the radio’s playing it.
It has all the elements of a widescreen moment as Merzel takes you on a gliding ride over her powerhouse vocal range, that doesn’t squeal to canine-tormenting levels but that could be the difference between the more grounded country diva and the glamorous record-label diva.
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In this year - Jet Black Stare
This is a band that has a vocalist who has literally stared straight into the jet black certainty of death. Frontman Rob Black, was pronounced dead by doctors at the ER when he overdosed at a party and sustained severe alcohol poisoning. But shortly after, when everyone had given up, Black returned to life.
On his miraculous recovery Black said, “I guess it just wasn’t my time…"It really shows me that life is so precious and you really have to just go get whatever it is that you want out of life, no excuses."
Parts of this experience have made their way into the lyrical content of the band, particularly in the song, Breathing. And it’s Black creative songwriting forces that truly energize the music of this band, teaming up with Jeff Johnson to co-write the band’s music. “A good song is a good song man, simple as that!” says Black
So for now, it still remains the time for this young modern rock band to continue releasing music from their debut album of 2008, and their latest release is the title track itself, In This Life. Crescendo of sound
The song starts with a very simple guitar intro that has a 90’s flare that swells into a glorious chorus that makes a man out of Black’s otherwise college-boy style vocals. But the start really is the best part. Although the chorus has enough appeal to rest easy on general familiarity. The chorus could stick, maybe not to be remembered after you’ve heard the next song, but certainly after you’ve heard this song.
This band can restore integrity to modern rock to an extent. While you at moments hear a little Hinder, a little Goo Goo Dolls and a little every-other-highschool-band-in-a-chic-flick-soundtrack, as a whole package the song has potential to tribute the emotional legendary of the 90’s. Really, sometimes it does feel like the only generation that truly felt the bittersweet symphony of life, was the ones who inspired the 90’s.
Having opened for bands like Hinder, 3 Doors Down, Staind and Puddle of Mudd, Jet Black Stare are now set to tour with Candlebox.
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