I’m just going to initialise CBATMLB and say that they hail from that hotbed of American rock and roll Asbury Park, New Jersey.
So what we have here is a collection of ten tracks, roughly thematic, where a band and the creative driving force, Connor, are growing exponentially. The overall sound of the album is simple and clean but, most importantly, it is full of energy. That energy pours out of songs such as Photographs Of Johnny Cash and the opening cut When The World Stops Turning with that strident rocking that grabs you and demands you get up get bopping. We all can remember the exciting sound of the early Beatles, Stones, Kinks and Who songs and this, in a sense, reminds me of those days.
“The overall sound of the album is simple and clean but, most importantly, it is full of energy”
No frills just in your face fun music. Mind you the band can get deeper and down to the darker side of things when we get to Blame On Me. I don’t know what state of mind Connor was in when he wrote this but there is a sense of brooding menace permeating through this song. Songs about DJs keep occasionally appearing and here we get Voice On The Radio as the man behind this band doubles down as a talk show host. That kind of broadcasting never appealed to me but for those that do it you have to deal with all manor of weird callers. Nightbird, essentially the title track, has a much fuller production sound and the longest running time at a little over six minutes however even taking those facts into consideration you still know clearly the source dynamics of this band. They may tell fuller stories in the future but remember their roots. Excellent stuff.
Photo Credit: © Jeff Crespi
No frills just in your face fun music. Mind you the band can get deeper and down to the darker side of things when we get to Blame On Me. I don’t know what state of mind Connor was in when he wrote this but there is a sense of brooding menace permeating through this song. Songs about DJs keep occasionally appearing and here we get Voice On The Radio as the man behind this band doubles down as a talk show host. That kind of broadcasting never appealed to me but for those that do it you have to deal with all manor of weird callers. Nightbird, essentially the title track, has a much fuller production sound and the longest running time at a little over six minutes however even taking those facts into consideration you still know clearly the source dynamics of this band. They may tell fuller stories in the future but remember their roots. Excellent stuff.
GRAEME SCOTT
