Smashing Debut Album
Mighty Atom Record's latest release comes from Brooklyn's The Smashup. The band plays a melange of alt rock that lies in a dark room between Alien Ant Farm and the Foo Fighter's older material. Latest album 'Untreatable' is the follow-up to the bands debut E.P and promises a natural progression from their last release. Consisting of 4 members including 1 guitarist and 1 lead singer, the band manage to produce a depth in their music that exceed the amount of musicians in the band.
To open 'Untreatable', the band begin with 'Icarus Flies' which has the musical traits that could easily be a top 40 hit in today's alternative charts; it consists of a dirty intro riff and a chorus that could easily be confused for an 'A' chorus.
It's easy to say that The SmashUp are anything other than innovative, as there is so much you can compare to songs by other bands. But The SmashUp take those elements that have made those Alt-Rock bands so successful and added them into their own brew of music and called it their own. To be honest, how many other bands DON'T do that?
The album has a very unusual structure as it begins with some very soft ear friendly songs like 'Dear Disorder' and acoustic track 'Murder To the Matress' in the first half of the album. Towards the end of the album, the album hits a much more metal corner of the musical spectrum with songs 'Self-Quake' and 'Rachel's Day'. This proves an interesting listen as listeners are left excited and not sleepy.
Watt White's voice is a refreshment from all the whiney screamo bands that have cursed today's music scene. As the album continues, it's easy to spot the diversity in White's vocal abilities as he roars through the introduction of 'Shell' or harmoniously whimpers in the versus of 'Best That I Can.' The Smash Up's guitarist, Vin Alfieri also adds some terrific solos in songs such as 'Best That I Can' which sit comfortably with the rest of the song.
Although the album took a while for me to appreciate, it certainly grew on me after a couple of listens. For a debut album, the SmashUp have certainly made a great impression and promise more entertaining music in the near future.