Blending ska, reggae and surf rock elements with their high octane punk, Mesa's Authority Zero hit the ground running on their second major label release, “Andiamo.” Where the divergent styles crashed together to varying degrees of success within the songs of the band’s previous disc, “A Passage of Time,” for the most part they’re separated to better effect on individual tracks here. The lead single, “Revolution,” is a propulsive-if-predictable punk rave-up as are “Painted Windows” and “Find Your Way,” which join it to start the disc. From there, breakneck tempos still pop up, but they're interspersed among ska (“Madman”), reggae (“Retreat”), instrumental ditties and a cover of Wall of Voodoo's new wave classic, “Mexican Radio,” lyrically updated for the new millennium.
The band exhibits a newfound political bent on several tracks, particularly “PCH 82” which, with its spoken word passages, is a little too pedantic for its own good. Regardless of what musical style they try on, Authority Zero's greatest asset is their unflagging energy and “Andiamo” — roughly “Let's go” in Italian — is an ample showcase of that. B
— by Thomas Bond, Get Out
Chronic Future
‘Lines in my Face’
What do you do when you’re a rap-rock band and need to keep up with the ever-changing face of music? You add some flavor to a stale genre. That’s exactly what Chronic Future do on their third album and Interscope debut “Lines in my Face.” The band injected punk elements into their sound, which helped them produce a pretty good album, but one can't help but get a “been there, done that” feeling while listening to it.
Though “Lines in my Face” is strong from beginning to end, there are similarities to other artists that don't go unnoticed. For example, the group's first single, “Time and Time Again,” sounds like something from a Linkin Park album and, at times, frontman and rapper Mike Busse sounds like a carbon copy of Eminem when he's spitting out lyrics. The melodious “Shellshocked” is the standout track, which will leave you wondering why it wasn't chosen as the lead single. And it's hard not to sing along to the catchy “Stop Pretending.” Now that they've added some new elements to their sound, the band just needs to find a voice of their own. B
— by Kelly Wilson, Get Out
The Cover-Up
‘The Cover-Up’
Made up of longtime friends barely into their 20s, The Cover-Up and their eight-song debut EP display a maturity beyond their years. Reminiscent of punk/pop groups like the Foo Fighters and Glass Jaw, The Cover-Up knows the value of a catchy hook, crafting hummable melodies over a bedrock of punishing guitar and an aggressive rhythm section. Singer Joe Cotela’s vocals can be alternately soaring and throaty, exploring sincerity and emotional angst by equal turns and never failing to deliver melodic choruses or punctual screams when the tunes call for it. Standout tracks include the reggae inflected “Waiting On Myself” and the driving, riff-heavy “Almost Over.”
While The Cover-Up may not yet be in the class of local heroes Jimmy Eat World and Reubens Accomplice, at this embryonic stage of their career the buzzword here is “potential,” and The Cover-Up has it in spades. B
Next Show: 9 p.m. at The Venue Of Scottsdale, 7117 E. Third Avenue, Scottsdale, . $8
A self-proclaimed “Slavic-fusion” group, Europa culls influences from Turkey, Romania and Yugoslavia to produce an acoustic potpourri using violin, flute, guitar, bass and percussion. This nine-song instrumental disc, recorded live, features great sound quality, eclectic songwriting and plenty of space for the the band members’ virtuosic improvisation.
Kicking off with the driving, melodic “Native Crossing,” Europa drifts through beautiful chord changes while the talents of flautist Gail Paul and violinist Connie Marie jump to the forefront. The jumpy “Train Song” sounds remarkably like American bluegrass, with guitarist David Clemons and former Nitpicker bassist Jeff Farias laying down lines that would make Johnny Cash proud while Connie Marie fiddles like a Nashville session player. By the end of the disc the songs run together a bit, but Europa’s impressive musicianship and evident exuberance for their music leave a lasting impression. B+
Next Show: 7 p.m. Sunday at Fiddler's Dream Coffee House, 1702 E. Glendale Ave., Phoenix, . $5
It's not often that a band releases an album with 12 songs that could each easily be radio singles, but such is the case of Logik (yes, spelled with a k). The album features a dozen polished, tightly written melodic rock gems that blend pop, rock and punk along the lines of bands such as Yellowcard, Sugarcult and New Found Glory. “Know it All,” the album’s second track, is already receiving radio airplay locally, but there are other worthy songs as well — “Epidemic,” “I Dare You” and “Casualty.”
The album features catchy songs with hooks that are hard to get out of your head. Take the haunting “Lifeguard” for example, where lead singer Adam Sienicki pleads “please let me drown/please let me drown/please let me drown inside of you,” which is hard not to sing along to. The album, the band's third, is certainly their best effort to date. A+
Next show: 8 p.m. Thursday at the Big Fish Pub, 1954 E. University Drive, Tempe, . $6, all-ages.
