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Combining genres is a technique that a lot of bands are getting into these days. However it’s not easy. Country with punk: difficult; emo with jazz: tricky; but punk with disco: complex to say the least. Few will even attempt for fear of not getting it quite right. The Photo Atlas just happens to be ones of those bands who hit it on the head.
To combine these genres, you need to incorporate some of the main components of both. For disco there would be some strong repetitive bass rhythms and the bass itself played at a higher than normal range, matching that of the lead singer’s voice. For punk there would be basic lyrics that are easily repeated and screamed, sometimes referring to politics; also a rock beat that’s taken faster, shorter and stripped of additional instrumentation. In the first track “Electric Shock” the intro guitar leads one to believe that this song could be from a straight up punk or even rock band. Yet once the lead singer chimes in, the sound is automatically thrown to the disco influence. “Light And Noise” has a rather mellower beginning than the others. For this one they broke it down, so it has both the simple bass and simple lead guitar riffs, just repeating over and over. Again, once Alan (vocals/guitar) starts his singing, the drums go more towards the cymbals and the guitar changes slightly, demonstrating the disco-ness. One of my favorite songs on the album is “The Walls Have Eyes”; the beginning of this song has both a lower and higher guitar. The lower ranged guitar is a nice surprise, different from previous songs and changes the feeling of the song a little. This time the lead guitar has a much more complicated part, which keeps you entranced. Even though the drums remain almost entirely on the cymbals, this song can be considered completely punk.
This band had a difficult task to do: combine two completely different genres. Luckily for us they were successful at that task and made some good music at the same time. On this CD you could hear influences from anywhere like Panic! At The Disco, Placebo, and even some Bullet Train To Vegas. It’s a good one for the next generation of music enthusiasts.
-Rachel Fredrickson
Track Listing:
1. Electric Shock
2. Merit
3. Light And Noise
4. The Walls Have Eyes
5. She Was A Matador
6. Red Orange Yellow
7. Broadcasting Feedback
8. Little Tiny Explosions
9. Cutback
10. Handshake Heart Attack
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