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Sinomatic “Sinomatic”
Atlantic
Pouting faces, glaring in their best rock-star, bad-boy manner
from the cover of Sinomatic’s self-titled major-label debut,
give hope that inside there will be a true rock album, without any
of the syrupy pop influences that have infiltrated the genre.
Unfortunately, “Sinomatic” is torn between two worlds
““ Third Eye Blind sound-alikes and the wailing electric
guitars and attitude-filled vocals of a bygone era. In the first
category, songs like “Girlfriend,” “Leave Me
Tomorrow” and “7 Days,” complete with string
orchestrations, are too pop-influenced for a band that tries to
bring a harder edge back into mainstream rock. “What Love
Is” is similarly a slower-paced song, but it lacks a string
section and is better for it. “Feel Alive,” “My
Time” and “One Life,” on the other hand, have a
distinctly ’80s rock quality, complete with unnecessary echo
on the vocals and hard-driving electric guitars. The first two
tracks, “Bloom” and “You’re Mine,”
are the most individual songs on the album. Here the band’s
multiple influences are present but unobtrusive, which bodes well
for its future work. Not surprisingly, this album was produced by
Eric Valentine, who also co-produced Third Eye Blind’s
self-titled album. This was no benefit, as many of the problems on
the album, such as the string orchestrations and engineering of the
singer’s voice, are a matter of overproduction. A simpler
sound would have been more fitting for many of the tracks.
Sinomatic doesn’t fall victim to the usual faults of new
bands. Its songs are well constructed, the instruments are
integrated nicely and the 11 tracks don’t feel like
reconstructions of the same song. It does, however, lack an overall
distinctiveness. “Girlfriend” and “One
Life” are good songs, despite their overproduction and eerily
familiar sound, and “What Love Is” and
“You’re Mine” are both well written and well
executed. The album is infused with a feeling of great potential,
and it can only be hoped that the band finds its voice, as it does
with “Bloom” and “You’re Mine,” and
produces a second album that delivers what this one promises.
Mary Williams Rating: 6
Jeff Beck “Wired” Epic It’s a
little unsettling when some of the best releases in the current
music industry are reissued albums. Jeff Beck’s
“Wired” is a brilliant paradigm of the level of quality
that should be expected in today’s releases. The only thing
is that the album was originally released in 1976. Beck, considered
by many to be one of the greatest guitarists of all time, displays
not only flash but also the moderation that is not often seen in
guitarists’ “solo” albums. All too frequently
these types of solo albums are dedicated to one giant
guitar-soloing wankfest. However, Beck leaves ample time for the
rest of his band to step into the spotlight. Bass player Wilbur
Bascomb takes the opportunity to lay down a phatty, thick layer of
funk, while Max Middleton and Jan Hammer spew out gritty runs on
the clavinet and synthesizer respectively. Along with these adept
musicians, some of the best instrumentation on the album is by
Narada Michael Walden, who shows his prowess on both piano and
drums. In addition to playing on the album, Walden wrote four of
its eight tracks. The album sounds unusually bright and the notes
are pristine in their clarity. Many albums in the late ’60s
and throughout the ’70s suffered from having some of the
sound quality lost in their final mixdown. “Wired” is
one of the few albums that deviate from this path of musical loss.
Produced by George Martin, “Wired” is a testament to
both Beck’s musial genius and Martin’s veteran
experience as a producer. With Beck hitting the front shelves of
record stores once again, maybe the rest of the music world will
take a hint from this inspirational album and produce something of
the same high quality.
Antero Garcia Rating: 8
Zebrahead “Playmate of the Year” Sony
Music
Adorning Zebrahead’s album “Playmate of the
Year,” are images of Playboy playmates Kessisa Fare, Elan
Carter and Jennifer Rovero, decked out in tasseled leather bikinis.
And then there’s the picture of the band ogling an issue of
Playboy magazine, drool practically dripping down their chins.
Appropriately titled, the album includes tracks such as
“Livin’ Libido Loco,” “Wasted” and
“I’m Money.” With a poppy, punk sound reminiscent
of Blink 182 and Bloodhound Gang, Zebrahead creates a fun, party
atmosphere with its catchy beats and contagious lyrics. The first
track, “I am,” uses its instrumentation to create a
punk and electronic feel at the same time, allowing for a wider
audience. “I am” keeps up a fast-paced tempo from
beginning to end, as do most of the album’s other songs. The
song successfully grabs the listener’s attention with profane
lyrics, although some may find these verses offensive.
“Playmate of the Year,” the title track, further adds
to the album’s upbeat mood by adding sounds of
“whoo” and “yeah” into its chorus. With
lyrics that are easy to relate to such as “Gotta get up/Gotta
open my eyes/I’m swimming through this haze/That’s been
around me for days,” listeners can, at times, connect with
the band. At other points in the album, however, Zebrahead makes it
clear that it just wants to have fun and it doesn’t care what
anyone else thinks. This attitude can be clearly felt in the song
“In My Room,” during which the band sings, “I can
do it all in my room/I can be a rock star with a bad attitude/I am
the king in my room.” While the album has a fun, enjoyable
quality, many of the songs sound the same and are hard to
distinguish from other bands’ music. Stick to tracks
“Playmate of the Year,” “Now or Never,”
“Wasted” and “I’m Money” in order to
hear Zebrahead at its best. In the end, although the CD can get a
little repetitive, it’s a good album to mix into the party
lineup.
Rebecca Cohen Rating: 6