Review Summary: Attack in Black's debut album takes us back to a simpler time in rock music, and they do a damn good job at it.
If you are reading this review, then good for you. Attack in Black are a Canadian indie band, how more unknown can you get. Luckily for me, I live and Canada and I was able to hear the band. The radio host played some tracks off Marriage and the guy couldn't stop complimenting the band so after long thought and debate with myself, I decided to finally pick this up, and I'm glad I did.
Attack In Black are quite excellent in what they do. They have taken great influences, (Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, even the Ramones) and have summed it all with their own style. It's frustrating when promising bands just take the sound of an accomplished musician and recycle their sound. Attack in Black has taken their influences and given it a fresh sound and make it fairly original. It seems like classic rock but without the whaling vocals. Nothing seems too heavy or overdone, but certainly nothing too wimpy or calm. I'd like to think that Marriage is a theme album. Songs that all have the same lyrical base, but isn't a full fledged concept album.
Another positive is that the band doesn't play sixteen different instruments then their own.
There is no violin harmonies, keyboards or orchestral chanting in the background of these songs. There basically no other instruments on this album besides guitar, bass, drums and vocals. The only other instrument is a trumpet which makes an appearance in the songs here and there (which is a nice touch). But this also a downfall. None of the songs seem to have true anthem- like qualities. Although the songs are quite excellent, they seem somewhat shallow or flimsy with not many other instruments, so there is a good and bad to it.
The choruses are very strong, mostly because of their vocalist, Daniel Romano. He has a bit of grit in his voice that gives his choruses good catchiness, but not to the point of being annoying.
Everything seems balanced songwise. Theres a nice mix of ballads and power songs. The songwriting isn't top notch and is a tad immature, but the lyrics are presented well. The songs are rather simple, but it's not like its supposed to be incredibly complex. They arn't changing rock music, merely showcasing how good it can be. There are no guitar solos or anything difficult. The drumming on the album is surprisingly good, yet the bass is virtually nonexistent. But it doesn't truly matter. While the sound itself is pretty original, the song structure is not. It would be nice to have a song that isn't intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, but unfortunately there isn't. Although the album and band are quite in touch and good, it all lacks a bit of maturity and growth. I'm sure Attack in Black will be able to cover both those areas with future releases. The songs are all impressive, and I never skipped a track, The songs do bleed into each other. it is unfortunate. The same effects and song structure does bring out repetitive-ness and most bands suffer from it and unfortunately so do Attack In Black.
Come What May is a nice opener, nothing special, but is a good sample of what everything else is going to be like. Young Leaves is their lead single and is really quite good. It's na- na -na chorus will put a smile on anyones face. Hunger of the Young is quite dark and sad, which is something I wouldn't have expected from this band. It breathes a lot of emotion without looking at the lyrics. Inches and Ages is possibly the worst song here, but that doesn't make it bad. The chorus is slightly gay, but the rest of the song holds up passably. Despite it's name, Marriage is actually the heaviest song on the album, it builds up to a gigantic climax but simply cuts out suddenly without the song finishing on a conclusion, just out of nowhere. Some might be frustrated, but I think it's rather ballsy and original.
If All I Thought Were True is a beautiful mellow song that I could fall asleep to. It just seems uninteresting yet soft and good at the same time. Broken Things seems like it would be good released as a single. It is loud enough and has a powerful chorus. Footprints has a somewhat dorky acoustic guitar part but still is soothing and then halfway kicks up in a clishe way of the loud guitars just bursting in, but is still a nice track. The Love Between You And I is a nice song and seems very powerful and has a very nice trumpet/guitar contrast in the bridge. Northern Towns isn't spectacular but isn't a let down. I didn't find it special though. Husbands is a deep melodic song that is one of the saddest songs but then the chorus picks it up a bit. Chimes And Church Bells is the final closing track and is about divorces so it's kind of a downer. it has a nice slow pace to it and shows that Attack in Black can handle ballads quite well.
So while Marriage lacks many things. The band doesn't need spectacles or craziness in their music to be great. While repetitive, easy and a tad bland, It is also refreshing, calm and balanced and is a very good album from a promising band.
I almost bought this yesterday, but for some reason didn't lol
