Hey look, ma! Hard music that isn't composed of senseless screaming and banal power chords! The music I refer to would be by the band Stolen Babies, from their self-titled album, a la No Comment Records. I'm quite fond of criticizing the efforts of most modern musicians, and I'll be the first to say that I hate almost all the music that manages to make it out onto the market these days. I reserve a special place in that cold, black, shriveled lump of my heart for hard and loud music that manages to get national attention while giving me an immense headache from the raw hatred I hold for it. So why, then, am I writing a review for this Stolen Babies CD that I received?
Because I actually like it. This isn't yet another whack at that dead horse named “NuMetal” that still gets beaten daily by the record industry and suburbanite teens driving their daddy's SUV, for some reason I cannot comprehend. It's not the same senseless power chords and unimaginative bass playing, and hoarse-sounding vocals overusing obscenities, as tends to compose most of the harder music these days.
It's that right combination of harmonies, their wondrous use of accidentals, and Dominique's enchanting voice. It's that shiver I got running up my spine while listening to “Hand it Over” and it's the, dare I say tasteful, use of the electric organ. I honestly couldn't give you a specific reason as to why I said, “Wow, I actually like this” after only hearing the first track. Three tracks in, I was looking over at Miss Doubtfire covetously and saying, “It's MINE, my precious…”
In other words, I've grown quite attached to this CD in quite a short time, and I want MORE.
Excellent recording and mixing, and the musicianship is top notch. My only regret was that the CD was entirely too short. I say this only because I enjoyed what I did hear quite a lot, and would've said the CD was too bloody long if it happened to be in the “dead horse” category.
The guitaring (David Givhan) is solid and true, without being repetitive or overly ornamental. The bassline (Rani Sharone) dances around with the guitar, rather than simply following it around monotonously. The drumming (Gil Sharone) ornaments the music without overpowering it, and the keyboard and organ playing (Ben Rico) adds the perfect harmony lines to each song. Of course, there are the deliciously sincere and beautiful vocals of Dominique Lenore Persi.
I've got high hopes for these folks, and pray that the amount of talent within a band still has some bearing on whether they make it big or not.
–Lincoln Logolas
