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Fighting With Wire

Colonel Blood

Written by: PP on 05/02/2013 22:33:40

Fighting With Wire are a rock band from Northern Ireland in the strictest and purest sense of the word. Their expression hasn't really been infiltrated by influences from post-hardcore and pop music like many a band today, so you could argue that their latest album "Colonel Blood" has nuances from the 90s rock scene in it. Back when alternative rock was really about rocking out instead of posturing and/or image. That's probably why large parts of the album bring to mind "There Is Nothing Left To Lose"-era Foo Fighters - the title track in particular - and why they've been on the receiving end of some serious hype in Britain by the usual suspects.

So we're dealing with clean-cut alternative rock here with charismatic vocals, solid riffs, and huge, anthemic choruses for the most part. Just a quick listen to the title-track or "Didn't Wanna Come Back Home" will reveal songwriting designed for the bigger arenas in mind, though without losing the essential feeling that this is rock music without bullshit. They do, of course, have a couple of more balladic songs such as "Erase You", which kinda sounds fitted for the radio, but it's still a pretty catchy track overall so that's okay. Most of the time, however, Fighting With Wire use exactly the same dynamics as Dave Grohl & co. Don't fix what isn't broken, so to say, but this approach has its issues as well.

One, they lack the character and attitude that pushed Foo Fighters over the edge from being a small band into a huge one. Two, they need more identity, and although there are moments where their vocalist pushes his voice from the roughened clean into a proper strain (what is always needed to create those truly magical moments), their songwriting is otherwise a little bit inconsistent to play in the big leagues. The songs I've named here - plus "Graduate" maybe - are all excellent alternative rock songs, but there's a lot of blander, more anonymous material as well. Still, holistically "Colonel Blood" is a good alternative rock release in a time where we don't have many albums in this style coming out anymore. Long live the 90s style rock scene.

Download: Colonel Blood, Didn't Wanna Come Back Home, Graduate
For the fans of: Foo Fighters, Eve 6, Feeder, Stone Temple Pilots
Listen: Facebook

Release date 24.09.2012
Xtra Mile Recordings