Envy Of The State

Soundtrack For Your Life

Written by: TL on 04/08/2010 23:36:25

When I first heard the name Envy Of The State around the intertubez, I pretty much figured they'd be another scene-type band, but as usual, signing up for a review taught me that names can be deceptive. Envy Of The State are in fact not very scene at all, rather they're inspired by classic hard rock and rock'n'roll, and their new album "Soundtrack For Your Life" is their attempt at proving that they can carve a name for themselves in that genre.

What they have going for them, is that their sound is unusual in not feeling dated instantly off the bat. This likely owes a lot to their vocalist who, despite mastering a lot of traditional tricks of the trade, sounds more like himself than like he's trying too hard to sustain some sort of pretentious rock'n'roll effect on his voice. His performance takes center stage in songs that are otherwise as traditional as can be. Melodically squealing guitars race left and right eighties style, while the rhythm sticks mostly to a one-two-three-four signature, and it's verse/chorus/solo formula all the way.

The good news is that the songs EOTS offer here, are all easily and instantly enjoyable, and you don't actually feel like the band is just a copy of a copy of a copy. The bad news is that the songs are like that mostly because of severe over-repetition of chorus lines, so after you've heard each song once, you've heard everything they have to offer. Things are as straight-fuckin-forward as an arrow, and if you're looking for curveballs or depth of expression, you better go look elsewhere.

So yeah, what you get is bombastic, well-produced and well-sung rock'n'roll with plenty of classic reference points, and if that sounds appealing to you, then maybe you can see through fingers with deficiencies in departments such as originality and depth.

7

Download: Rags To Riches (Riches To Rehab), Silver Screen, While Angels Are Sleeping
For The Fans Of: something in between Rock Hard Power Spray/Star*Rats-type of bands, and The Blackout/Escape The Fate-type of bands
Listen: myspace.com/envyofthestate

Release Date 14.06.2010
Red Label Records

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