On the face of it Chase the Day‘s debut album Tabula Rasa has everything going for it…
Professionally recorded, mixed, produced and for all intents & purposes professionally played.
However for a couple of reasons (for me anyway) the album kind of falls down a bit. I will get on to those reasons in a bit!
The upbeat songs have great riffs, grooves & some really catchy hooks (both musically & lyrically) you can catch little reminders of Nirvana, Muse, Foo Fighters & (for some reason to my ears) Living Colour (but without the funk). There is also the slightest feel of Prog in there but I think that’s just down to their well executed and intricate playing.
Some of the tunes have the kind of backing vocals, (the ooh’s & aah’s that you might find on a 10cc track) but they do compliment the songs & don’t sound out of place. On the other end of the spectrum a couple of the songs have some quite dark & heavy riffs to them, so don’t worry, we are still very much in the rock category!
Now we get to where the album kind of fell down for me. When I listened (several times) through the album in it’s entirety, the slower songs that are “bookended” by the upbeat ones, felt a bit out of place. They don’t seem to hold their own as much as the stronger, livelier tracks.
I know most people these days, probably don’t listen to a whole album in one sitting but for me it didn’t scan well as a whole experience.
I realise we all like a bit of light & shade in our music but I don’t think the singers voice suits the slower tunes, I don’t think I felt as much emotion from him as I think I ought to have felt.
Although the singers voice is tuneful, I think a more “sing-songy” type of voice would suit all the tunes better. I suspect the singer is the main song writer so I guess that’s not an option? A couple of the tunes also suffered from a Foo Fighters repetitiveness that just turns me off, of certain songs. But hey what do I know? Everyone loves the Foo’s right!?
Chase the Day sound different enough to carve their own little niche in an overcrowded rock market but do they sound unique enough to stand out? And stand head & shoulders above the rest?
Without a stellar Freddie Mercury/Myles Kennady type of voice, I don’t think so!
Maybe it’s time to start again with a “Tabula Rasa”?
Released 9th September 2016
The upbeat songs have great riffs, grooves & some really catchy hooks (both musically & lyrically) you can catch little reminders of Nirvana, Muse, Foo Fighters & (for some reason to my ears) Living Colour (but without the funk).
