Rating: 9 / 10 Stars
REVIEW – So, Gene Simmons said “Rock and Roll is Dead”, someone needs to pass that letter to GROWN UP AVENGER STUFF. They clearly have an energy and passion to them that makes the music really soar and feel epic. The good news is that I just discovered this band, and they have three releases previously. Hopefully, I can sweet talk the band after this to let me get them! On to the review… Vocalist Deirdre Kroener is someone who when she speaks seems to have something to say. Whereas most musicians these days open their mouth and just catchy garbage comes out. Kroener is someone who speaks from her soul and her emotion. The ten songs on this record had to feel like a long therapy session of sorts as she is not singing as much as grasping onto moments of her life. There is a urgency to her delivery that just puts the vocals in this intimate light. The beauty to this band is that the members understand what their singer brings to the songs and they give her such an open canvas to draw upon. The musicianship compliments her vocals like a bird to the sky. This is a band I feel is sick of being considered a cult favorite or underground and this record is them lifting the lid and saying, “here we are and we want to showcase who we are.”
Whereas most songs and albums once you listen to a song you seem to forget it easily when the next song or cd is put in, this record seems to stick with you long after turning it off. I think comparisons can be drawn to any 70’s inspired rock band in a WOLFMOTHER or dare I say 60’s psychedelic like a JEFFERSON AIRPLANE. This album wears its influences very proudly and when you think you got this band figured out, they thrown another element on the music to change it up. The punk rock vibe on songs like “Vision” were surprising, even more is that they pulled it off. This album has zero breaks or filler, each song sounds as important as the last song. The true negative to this band is that a music fanatic like me did not know about them sooner. Which means that most people may not know about them as well, and if that is the case, my advice is to seek this record out. If you want some honest rock and roll with everything even the kitchen sink thrown in. This is a band that feels very honest in their approach and very determined in their sound. 2016 is going to be a hard year for any music critic, it seems that weekly we get a cd that just blows everything away. How can this cd not be in any best of 2016 list? Be scared, you been warned the underground is no longer so under.