Storm The Beaches

Hemisphere

Written by: TL on 09/12/2012 14:17:02

There are a lot of things you can do as a band to try to get yourself noticed. Most of these things you can skip worrying about however, if you build your band around a singer who has a great voice. Case in point: Baltimore newcomers Storm The Beaches, who have recently followed two prior EP releases with the dropping of their first LP "Hemisphere" and whose singer/guitarist Mark Mikina made instant impact when I heard the first few notes of his high, crisp, clear Anthony Green/Jonny Craig-ish voice.

As opposed to those two gentlemen however, Mikina does not have his band engaged in either experimental progressive rock or some funky r'n'b-core. No, as it soon turns out upon spinning "Hemisphere", Storm The Beaches have no plans of remaining in such niches, rather they sound like their aim is to cater to much wider audiences with a classic, positive, big-sound album. For those of you who have recently enjoyed records like Twin Atlantic's "Free" or Lovedrug's "Wild Blood" this should pose no problems, as long as Storm The Beaches have the necessary knack for songwriting. And judging from how their bright riffs and dynamic song structures come through even on early spins, I'd say the band is off to a promising beginning.

The first song to immediately stand out I think is "Someday Came Suddenly", which immediately charms the listener when its super-catchy, acoustic verse gets a kick of speed when the full band comes in and primes the listener for an irresistable singalong. This song alone should keep you coming back, and soon songs like "Good Advice" and "Full Circle" also work their magic, with the band's sentimental positivity giving a compelling coating to their recognisable lyrical sentiments.

So the keywords here then, are great vocals, positive vibes and solid songwriting, and it's a credit to the band that they maintain a consistently high level throughout the album, especially in the latter department. Yet despite this consistency, the album still somehow gets a little long in the tooth down the stretch of its ambitious fifteen tracks. I just start feeling like the band should have introduced a different nuance, a change of pace or just some sense of danger along the way, to keep each song from feeling increasingly like another subtle variation of the sound of the one before it.

Simply put, I guess variety is the aspect that I'd recommend Storm The Beaches to work on in their quest to make it big. Maybe variety and limitation.. They hit the nail on the head a fair few times here, and one should never count out the reasoning, that maybe it would be better to have an album with nine of ones' very best songs, rather than fifteen of ones' good songs. Those considerations aside however, I feel pretty confident in recommending this to you as a new band most of you can expect to be rewarded by if you should decide to give them a chance.

Download: Someday Came Suddenly, Good Advice, Full Circle
For The Fans Of: Twin Atlantic, Cartel, Mae, Lovedrug,
Listen: facebook.com/stormthebeaches

Release Date 13.11.2012
Apparition Records

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