Review Summary: A promising ep from this N.Y based alt/indie band. With a little time, this band could rise above all the trendy bufoons and make a name for themselves.
Hello gang, I have returned in a cheery mood that hasn’t been seen for many days and weeks. Ranging from receiving bonus points on my term paper for mentioning Black Flag and Danzig, knocking out a brutal flu in short few days cementing my rock like nature, and finally catching a Tauros in my pokemon red game, this mood will not last for long so I’m here to take advantage of my current state of mind with a music review. The name of the band is Once We Were Heroes, no, not that group of nobodies from Indiana but the positively doggin ones from Poughkeepsie New York that features a special little somebody from sputnik’s elite confines.
Once We Were Heroes is a young Christian five piece alternative rock outwit with an indie edge and quality dual vocalists to boot. The lineup consists of main vocalist Sarah Welty, Frankie Z and Colin Priest on guitars providing the energetic melodies and the occasional solo, Adam Downer on the bass as well as providing a manly contrast to the primarily female driven vocals, and Andrew De Sha blasting the drum kit to a style comparable with Rainn Wilson‘s character in The Rocker. Their style of music displayed on The Juniper Sessions( the working title of the E.P) consists of driving power chords, zig zagging vocals, and catchy choruses delivered by the deep yet easily identifiable lyrical content from the two vocalists.
The first two songs All The Things You Left Behind and Friar Lawrence show off the potential for this band to grow considerably within the current music scene with big hitting hooks and foot tapping rhythms melding with terrific vocal dynamics and cruising low to mid tempo riffing. Their myspace page boasts Flyleaf as an influence and quite honestly, Sarah bears quite a remarkable similarity to Lacy Mosley’s vocal delivery minus the overbearingly shrill pitch the latter vocalist tends to portray. Adam’s slightly more aggressive vocal style complements Sarah’s softer approach quite nicely, adding to the dynamic of the group. Unfortunately, the latter three tracks Sink Or Swim, Oh, Spirit, and Silence Or Absence failed to capture me in the same way the previous two tracks did. I can feel the overall focus wasn’t as strong or not enough time was given to the band to fully develop these songs. Even the slight hardcore binge of Sink Or Swim couldn’t save the song from sounding lethargic despite a relatively interesting chorus. However, the ballad Oh, Spirit turned out to be pretty good with a strong influence from the Thrice track Broken Lungs permeating through the opening minute of the song. The distorted vocals and the layering in the end kind of ruined the momentum they had going on in the beginning. Otherwise, a nice track. Production is pretty efficient for this style of music, the vocals pop with clarity, the drumming is crisp, and the guitars churn like I cant believe it’s not butter. The bass tone is kind of low but my speakers are not well equipped enough to base my judgment on alone.
All things considered, The Juniper Session came off as a success for the young band. This E.P is an impressive start for the band despite falling short a few times. The songwriting is promising, as long as they follow the template for All The Things You Left Behind and Friar Lawrence. Just adding a few touches to an already pretty stable formula can strengthen the music greatly. If you’re looking for some dual vocal alternative rock with a little more depth than your average Hey Monday clone or even Hey Monday themselves I think you should get to myspacing as fast as a Rapidash storming across Cinabarr City.. This is a fun listen for the family, go forth and d…………….
