Now I have never been to California, so when asked to describe a particular scene, I can only go on hearsay. What I have heard is that the Orange County scene was firmly based in punk/ska party music in the '90s but of late it went down the serious harder metal road.
Anaheim, California's own downright is definitely indicative of the change. With clean vocals, chugging guitars and a solid low end, downright sound like the misbegotten offspring of the post-grunge rock and nu metal. “Over The Line” is a hard rock album that fits right in with releases from bands like Course of Nature, Default and Seether.
For an indy release, “Over The Line” has good mixing and production value. While the actual sound isn't quite polished yet, songs like “Waking Up“, “Gray” and “Wish It All Away” promise a bright future for the band.
The band mixes in clips of a poor radio disc jockey at x103.9 getting screwed over by callers cursing over the air. Perhaps as a former dj myself I didn't find it quite as amusing, but the clips certainly have no place on the album as they are totally unrelated to the songs.
With some vocal lessons and perhaps some more risks taken in the guitar lines (try losing the down-tune/distortions from time to time!), downright should certainly find a place in the rock mainstream.
To hear more of them, check out their site at www.downrightband.com.
