Review Summary: No revolution to be found on the Pennsylvania quartet's self-titled debut, but lead singer LZZY's electricity lends an endearing charm to a been-dying-so-long-it's-gotta-be-dead genre.
A gimmick. Well, not completely, but it sure feels that way sometimes. I'm as big an offender as anyone. I'm going to listen to it. I'm probably going to like it. It's a conclusion foregone, death and taxes,
Saw sequels and "American Idol."
Where does Pennsylvania's Halestorm fit? Talent-wise, somewhere in the middle, but it's tough to think of them in comparison to most of the typical "girl-rock" bands, an idea I don't think necessary at all nowadays. It’s actually easier to think of Halestorm as female-fronted version of all those narcissistic, radio-friendly, cock-rockers that have spent their last few summers opening up for Motley Crue... only... better.
The band formed in 1998 when pre-teen siblings LZZY (vocals, guitar) and Arejay Hale (drums), along with their father (bass, temporarily), started playing and writing rock music. They signed with Atlantic in 2005, but would tour extensively for 3-4 years before releasing their first full-length LP.
A staple of the genre, sexual energy permeates the songs in a delightfully-overbearing manner. Lead single "I Get Off" is an ode to voyeurism, but the song has an odd charm to it- a strange intimacy, even. Having received heavy radio play (or so I've read on Wikipedia), the song acknowledges that attraction, as love's antecedent, has no respect for social norms. People are weird, more so in their privacy, and this can be naughty fun.
Much of the album's intoxication comes out of the fact (or personal opinion) that LZZY is (or seems to be) brutally honest in her vocal delivery. "Bet U Wish U Had Me Back" is a fine example of this. A tempting revisit to a departed relationship, LZZY backtracks "do you close your eyes with her/and pretend I'm doing you again like only I can?" She clearly appeals to her innate, powerfully self-aware sexuality, but her delivery is too sad to really buy it.
When her voice tears a hole through the beat in "Innocence" (at around 2:14), it's visceral, but it's "Love/Hate Heartbreak" that shows off LZZY's range better than any song on the album. She's up-and-down, even a bit raspy on the verses, but returns to her power-rock, supercharged roots for the chorus.
If, by this point in the review, you've noticed that I've focused almost exclusively on LZZY's vocals and the album's lyrical content, it's because the rest of the content is unspectacular. Lead guitarist Joe Hottinger has a fine delivery of power chords and thirty-something-second solos- radio-rock's bread-and-butter. On some songs, his play stands a few hairs above the generic ("Innocence"), but he's no Jason Todd or Allison Robertson. The band simply wouldn't be interesting without LZZY.
Make no mistake: this CD is not Sputnik's box of juice. It has all the traditional genre characteristics (or pitfalls, depending on your opinion). The song structure is generic, the lyrics, often repetitive. Chances are, if you aren't into the comparables, you should skip this. But then, if there's a place in your internal musical atlas that's not too sophisticated for simple, innuendo-ridden love songs, then I would highly recommend giving it a shot.
Halestorm, Atlantic Records
Released April 28, 2009
Produced by Howard Benson
