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There aren’t
many new bands out there who when the send me their latest EP or Album
that I instantly think these guys have something new and awe inspiring,
but Hastings based Age Of Reason have captured my imagination with their
debut album ‘One Small Act Of Defiance’.
The band have
been described as sounding like Queens of the Stoneage meets The Manics
meets Audioslave and the like. However, I think the band have that
unique quality that is hard to find with many of the new bands of today
and that’s their own sound.
One thing that
is instantly noticeable when you first put on the album is the voice of
frontman Andrew Shaw, who comes across as cross between Ian Astbury and
Bono, a very eclectic mix I know but if you listen its definitely there.
The album itself
covers a wide section of tempo and mood changes and varying musical
styles, but definitely no fillers here, it's all-good stuff.
Things get
underway with the ‘Public Property’, a song about the tabloid press and
their invasion into the peoples private lives. This is a great
opener, a crunching mood ridden track that highlights those similarities
between Shaw and Astbury.
Things continue
with the enigmatic ‘Perfect You’, a real dark effort this one, mainly
because it was written about the death of a friend of frontman Shaw, who
died in car crash, a real powerhouse of a track.
The album just
doesn’t get better with each listen it evolves, as the mood ridden tones
of ‘How Do You Live’ and the heavy bass ridden beat of the excellent
‘Killing Time’ are unleashed on the listener.
Other highlights
of the album have to be funk ridden heavy beat of ‘Stone Scissors Paper’,
the unashamedly dark ‘Revolting Beast’, the hard edged rocker ‘Angelfire’,
and the amazing ‘Crushed’. But, track of the album for me has to be
‘Liberation’. This really does encapsulate the whole vibe of the
band for me. It's rocky, it's moody, it's just superb.
This is one band to
watch out for as they make a break for the big time in 2007.
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