Review Summary: This is a pretty decent debut album for Fivespeed. A couple of songs will blow you away, and the rest of it, while not remarkable, is consistently average or slightly above.
Most of you reading this review have either never heard of this band or have only heard their debut single "The Mess". If you are in the first category then you missed one of the better alt-rock albums of the year. If you are in the second category--there is more here than "The Mess". This a complete, (though short) album.
Who is Fivespeed? They are a 5-piece band from Phoenix, Arizona that was formed in 1997. This is their major-label debut, but they have had at least an ep and additional full--length album.
What do they sound like? They sound a bit like most of the chart-topping alt. rock bands of today (and that isn't meant as an insult.) The music feels familiar, as it isn't too creative, but their are flashes of orginiality. I would say they are most comparable to Faktion, but you probably haven't heard of them either. The best and worst thing simultaneously about the band is the sound of lead vocalist Jared Woosley. He projects a lot of emotion throughout all the songs; both the hard rockers and the acoustic number. This is good because it is a nice pairing of the voice with the alt. rock music--working especially well on
Fair Trade and
The Mess. However, the emo-whine effect in the voice develops, and his voice grows repetitive before the 37 minute album is at its end.
The album opens with
Fair Trade which starts with a rock intro and then cuts into an emo-like verse and then a rocking chorus with emo vocals. It sounds good to me--but some of my friends find this track to be the most irritating on the album. However, by the end of the album, this formula gets a bit tired.
Next up,
The Mess which is the song that got them their record deal. A simple but memorable intro leads into the quiet/loud nu metal type approach to songwriting. But in this case, it works. The music thunders into the chorus where Jared declares, "I can hear you leaving/look at the mess you left behind/I still hear you screaming/I hope you're gone for good this time." with verse lyrics like "You're world has caught you wrapped around my neck." He makes these lyrics feel powerful, but this isn't emo-crap music, but instead hard rock. This hybrid works deliciously well here--well enough in fact to make this my #6 song of 2006 (so far).
Mourning Over Midnight sounds like a similar song to the previous one. Same intro, same song structure and similar chords. This facismile lost something--this is filler--ripping off their previous song. However, his voice makes the pretty bland lyrics
feel like they are important. Features a typical emo bridge--great for emo fans, not as much fun for the rock fans.
Following this is
Blame It On You which is my current favourite off the disc. This song sounds different, which is an encouraging trend, since the first songs all sounded similar. This song has strings and remains pretty soft. His voice (which manages not to have the emo whine here) is at his best on this track and the music is really pretty. As a general note, the musicianship is nothing special on this disc, but this song sounds really good and is excellently produced. They also use more than 3 or 4 chords in this song which is also a welcome development. This song isn't a ballad--but if you like power ballads, check this one out anyway.
Vegas completely ditches the emo sound and is Fivespeed trying to be a straight-up rock band. While this is a fan favourite--I don't think it works. His screaming/hard rock voice isn't so good and the music is nothing special. The hard work can work in fusion for Fivespeed, but they are not a hard rock band, and they need to let their lead singer use his voice to make melody.
Lights uses the same emo/alternative rock vocals/msuic formula. It works pretty well again to my ears, but they've been doing it a lot by now, so if you were on the fence, it would probably be irritating you by now.
Touch Of One is a pleasant but utterly forgettable softer rock ballad. Almost filler, but still a pleasant experience.
Drive (Field Guide) and
Wait Forever are songs that continue in the same emo/alt. rock fusion. Drive features some weird chord progressions that don't work and there is nothing distinctive about Wait Forever. Their formula wears out its welcome on these two songs.
Finally, it is time for the acoustic finishing number. I expected
Misery Loves Company to suck when I heard the intro, but it actually works very well. He gets his voice just right here--and shows the range of his voice. He is really a talented singer when he can reign in the emo whine. More strings appear here, and it is another really pretty song. Not as creative as
Blame It On Me but a well done finishing number.
Why did I give it 3.5? Several songs: The Mess, Blame It On Me, get 5's and Misery Loves Company and Lights are also 4's. So there is a lot good about this album--and The Mess is a GREAT song for something to headbang to when angry. The Mess is still in contention for my song of the year award--if you got this far in the review, at least download that song and try it.
However, this album is short. 10 tracks and 36 minutes. And even in that, there are 2 or 3 filler songs. They use a formula for a majority of the songs and it wears thin. I didn't want multiple versions of The Mess, yet they give us several poorer sounding copies of it. In all, I can't rate a cd with only 6 good songs (20 minutes) of repeatedly enjoyable material as anything higher than a 3.5. However, if you are an alt. rock or emo fan, I still give this a solid thumbs up.
