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Melodic rock has infiltrated the music scene of today... more
so than it probably has in the past. Depending on your mood, you
could have your choice of bands. Happy, angry and sad (ok, maybe
they could all be considered sad), and placing themselves in this
up-and-coming category is Paulson.
Right from the beginning with "Voids" the mixture of
low octaves that practically don't change throughout the entire
song and the simple guitar makes me miss my People In Planes
CD. The one lyric "wayside" obviously sticks out to
me as well, but that could just be coincidence. Half way through,
"Slow Down" kicks up the tempo a notch. Also, Logan
(vocals) jumps up a couple octaves to show us exactly how much
talent he has. About 2/3rds of the way through the song you hear
the keys turn to an almost synthesizer sound and when Logan sings
on top of them, he eerily projects a sound almost identical to
that of Matt Bellamy of Muse. With the song "Break
Me In" they change the keys again, this time to an organ-esque
effect. When the song starts out, there's basically a solo performance
with just vocals and keys. But for some reason Logan went lower
again and unfortunately, not a good decision. He's not the greatest
bass, more of an alto. After the rest of the band enters into
the mix, he goes higher, which makes for a more pleasant sound.
Finally, the last song is titled "What Are You?" For
a nice change, you don't really hear so much of the keys. This
subtraction turns the song around and slides it into the rock
genre. If you listen closely you'll also hear some strings in
the background... my guess: violins. It's a very dramatic, surprising,
and appropriate way to end the CD.
I'm not sure which emotion this album will evoke from you. I'm
also not sure whether this album really could be considered melodic
rock or a mixture of a little bit of this and a little bit of
that. But what I do know is it's not the same old melodic rock
out there everywhere right now. They're doing something new and
sooner or later, everyone will discover it.
-Rachel Fredrickson
Track Listing:
1. Voids
2. Under Crowns
3. Calling On You
4. Window Frames
5. Slow Down
6. Programs
7. Miami Current
8. Not By A Long Shot
9. Break Me In
10. Ultra-High
11. I Knew You When
12. What Are You?
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