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Review |
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Side projects seem to be the in thing at the moment
with many band members taking a short break from
their main band to make a smaller band with a variety
of different musicians and now it is the turn of
Alexisonfire guitarist and vocalist Wade Macneil
who has gone on to form a side project called Black
Lungs, now Alexisonfire are not new to side projects
as the bands other guitarist and vocalist Dallas
Green has released a few albums with his side project
City And Colour and enjoyed quite a lot of on and
off success since they released their first EP back
in 2004. So you are probably wondering what sort
of sound Wade Macneil has gone for with Black Lungs
and what other musicians are in his band, well the
music is an ever so interesting wide mix that ranges
from folk, punk, classical and country making Black
Lungs such an easy band to get into, as for the
band members, Wade Macneil is the only permanent
band member with him choosing different musicians
to help out when on tour which currently includes
Liam from the Cancer Bats on drums.
So 'Send Flowers' is the debut album from Black
Lungs, the album only features 9 tracks, and Wade
has done well creating music that is so much different
from what people are used to hearing from him
playing in Alexisonfire, now that is some achievement
as many artists really do find it hard to break
away from the music that is well associated with
them. 'Send Flowers' is a deeply personal album
just check out how hard hitting some of the lyrics
are for proof of that.
The opening track 'A Blessing And A Curse' starts
off with Wade's loud and clear vocals with an
electronic sounding echo running just a few seconds
behind the vocals, an acoustic guitar starts off
quite mellow before Wade strums the shit out of
it making faster and louder acoustic guitar sounds,
the drums roll fast and speed up every second
until they reach their peak and fade out, now
this track is more of an introduction than it
is an actual song but it makes for an interesting
listen but at the time leaves you feeling confused
on where the band are going musically.
The first real track on the album is 'Fire And
Brimstone', and the song mainly runs on Wade's
dark, deep sounding gruff vocals, the man has
a hell of a voice and he sure knows how to use
it to the best of his ability’s. The lyrics
are interesting with Wade singing "Will you
let me go to hell however I choose" half
way through the song and soon after a soothing
piano piece runs through the song, the song has
an all over beautiful sound about it despite the
dark lyrics that come pouring out of Wades mouth.
During the album Wade covers a number of different
topics from drug use, cancer, death and so much
more, as I previously said you can tell a lot
of thought has gone into writing the album. The
track that stands out the most to me has to be
'When It's Blackout' the song is about drug use
and working for the devil due to all the drugs
that have been taken, the song has a grunge feel
about it and within moments you will find yourself
singing along to the ever so catchy yet dark lyrics
of "After midnight your doing the devils
work, you took a shot of cocaine, oh my god could
this be any worse, after midnight your doing the
devils work, after midnight your doing the devils
work, after midnight all eyes run back into our
head, hearts beating even faster".
The first single to be taken from the album is
'Hold Fast (Sink Or Swim), you can easily tell
why it has been picked to be the main single release
from the album, the song is really easy to get
into and features so much melody, Wade's vocals
sound quite deep and gruff in places and more
sing along and upbeat in other places, the whole
mixture in the song works well.
There is a lot on offer on 'Send Flowers' it’s
not all one style of music, for example take 'These
Moments Define Us' the song is really fast paced
and unlike anything else on the album its the
kind of music you would expect to hear whilst
watching a cowboy film with the cowboys charging
on their horses it has that sort of feel about.
'For Her' sounds easily like it could of been
performed by Hot Water Music. 'So It Goes' is
a piano driven ballad that sounds really strong
and the album closing track 'In Memory' is a big
sing along affair that simply leaves you wanting
to hear more from Black Lungs.
Wade Macneil has done himself proud and created
a really good album, it’s the kind of album
that you listen to once and feel that you need
to listen to it again because your not too sure
on it, so you put it on again and once it finishes
your starting to enjoy it that little bit more
and decide to put it on again and again because
it grows on you that little bit more each time.
The sound of the band is a lot different from
that of Alexisonfire but at the same time it’s
quite easy to get into and enjoy, Wade is hoping
to tour the small clubs and venues he started
playing at when Alexisonfire first started out
and if that’s the case get yourself down
to a show as this is the perfect music to listen
to in a small intimate venue.
4/5
Review by Trigger |
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| Band
Members |
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Wade Macneil
Sammi Bogdanski |
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| Track
Listing |
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1. A Blessing And A Curse
2. Fire And Brimstone
3. When It's Blackout
4. Hold Fast (Sink Or Swim)
5. These Moments Define Us
6. For Her
7. So It Goes
8. Timeless
9. In Memory |
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| Band
Related Links |
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| Review
Score Code |
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- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
-
What Was That? |
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