Review Summary: The songs are well-composed, but they fail to compensate for the lack of originality with any real spark to elevate them over their contemporaries
Bronze Radio Return have been together in their current form barely a year, however a few months is all the time it took for the Connecticut five-piece to be scouted by engineer/producer Doug Derryberry (Dave Matthews, John Mayer) and invited to record a selection of songs with him. It was perhaps inevitable that Bronze Radio Return would hook up with a producer from the modern jam scene- Derryberry’s day job sees him playing guitar with Bruce Hornsby’s touring band- however it’s disappointing to hear a group so adept in a variety of genres appear so comfortable in the box dominated by the likes of Matthews, Mayer and Johnson. Bronze Radio Return play catchy, yet overbearingly tame and unobtrusive pop-rock, with influences coming out the arsehole but nothing new or inventive to offer in support.
Two tracks survive from those early sessions with Derryberry- ‘Mirrors And Smoke’ and ‘Don’t Wait Any More’- while the remaining three were written and recorded over the following year. The early tracks are noticeably rougher and less well-defined: ‘Mirrors And Smoke’ rides a wave of funky latin guitar chords and smooth half-sung, half-rapped vocals that could easily be mistaken for the less colourful cousin of Rob Thomas’ late-90s classic ‘Smooth.’ Singer Chris Henderson proves to be an agile vocalist, yet like his band struggles to come across as anything but a really good imitator, channelling John Mayer in particular on the early compositions and taking on a more dextrous Dave Matthews-like brogue on the later tracks.
‘Don’t Wait Any More’ self-consciously latches to the wings of Mayer’s ‘Waiting On The World To Change,’ going so far as to quote the title in its opening statement, but despite taking the track on a reggae-infused tangent, still sounds like a latter-day Hanson track. If Barack Obama was ever in search of another theme song, he could do worse than seek out this change-obsessed track: it’s certainly a huge step up from will.i.am’s monstrosity, and the incessantly vague sentiments expressed therein would fit neatly in his manifesto. The three more recently conceived tracks score more originality points, exhibiting somewhat of a consistent infusion of country, particularly on twangy disc highlight ‘If The Roof Is Leaking’ and the White Stripes-influenced acoustic shuffle ‘The Truth.’
Nevertheless,
Bronze Radio Return’s flaw remains its lack of distinctiveness, both in terms of style and quality. The songs are well-composed, but they fail to compensate for the lack of originality with any real spark to elevate them over their contemporaries. At only five tracks,
Bronze Radio Return is a relatively enjoyable outing, however the steps taken towards a distinctive sound will need to be taken further before the group will be able to contemplate a full-length release.
