It would appear that, the 90’s / early millennium scene is going through a bit of a resurgence of late; WHEATUS have an anniversary tour planned…COAL CHAMBER have successfully reformed with a brand new album…hell even S CLUB 7 have been doing the rounds on a UK arena tour, so it’s only fitting that EVERCLEAR too have emerged with their first new album in three years; “Black Is The New Black”. Despite numerous line-up changes, the rockers from Portland, Oregon, keep soldiering on courtesy of founding member / front man Art Alexakis…will 2015 see them return to platinum selling records? Let’s find out…
The album starts off with “Sugar Noise” and it’s a pretty straightforward riff-driven rock song, in subtle ways finding itself in between the likes of AUDIOSLAVE and THEORY OF A DEADMAN musically. The guitars sound decent and really drive the song forward but all in all its relatively standard stuff. “The Man Who Broke His Own Heart” is generally much slower in pace, taking a while to get going, chugging along for the most part, utilizing an incredibly simple chorus, it’s almost lazy to be honest, while tracks such as “Pretty Bomb”, “American Monster” and ironically “Anything Is Better Than This” in comparison stand out as highlights fairly easily, all notably livelier with some good rhythm behind them, but it’s not to say they can’t do subdued well too; closing track “Safe” is a delicately sombre affair with the emotional tones of the song suiting Art’s vocals very well, ending the album on a strong note.
What is clear here, is that Everclear is a project Alexakis cares greatly about, why else would he keep it going otherwise? Sadly however, his determination isn't necessarily a dead-cert for success. Sure there are some enjoyable tracks on offer here, but in the grand scheme of things it does sound somewhat dated and just a tad run of the mill. I’m afraid black is still the same old black. [6]
The album starts off with “Sugar Noise” and it’s a pretty straightforward riff-driven rock song, in subtle ways finding itself in between the likes of AUDIOSLAVE and THEORY OF A DEADMAN musically. The guitars sound decent and really drive the song forward but all in all its relatively standard stuff. “The Man Who Broke His Own Heart” is generally much slower in pace, taking a while to get going, chugging along for the most part, utilizing an incredibly simple chorus, it’s almost lazy to be honest, while tracks such as “Pretty Bomb”, “American Monster” and ironically “Anything Is Better Than This” in comparison stand out as highlights fairly easily, all notably livelier with some good rhythm behind them, but it’s not to say they can’t do subdued well too; closing track “Safe” is a delicately sombre affair with the emotional tones of the song suiting Art’s vocals very well, ending the album on a strong note.
What is clear here, is that Everclear is a project Alexakis cares greatly about, why else would he keep it going otherwise? Sadly however, his determination isn't necessarily a dead-cert for success. Sure there are some enjoyable tracks on offer here, but in the grand scheme of things it does sound somewhat dated and just a tad run of the mill. I’m afraid black is still the same old black. [6]
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