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Non-Prog CD Reviews

Beijing

Night

Review by Gary Hill

These guys seem to wander along a number of musical landscapes. The easiest comparison would be to Radiohead, but that’s not completely accurate. Overall, they are an alternative rock band, but they have other sounds and influences at work, too. This album is quite good. It’s varied enough to remain interesting and seldom suffers from anything that seems lacking. This one definitely lands on the very good side of the equation.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2013  Volume 4 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review
Acrobat

This starts dramatic and rather mysterious. It builds out from there into some noisy, but still incredibly tasty music. I’m reminded quite a bit of Radiohead on this tune.

Into the Rain
There’s more of a rocking motif from this right from the start. It’s quite melodic and quite rooted in alternative rock. However, like the opener, this has some of that Radiohead modern prog vibe. This rocks out even harder, and shows off more of that Radiohead prog sound, as it continues later.
Broken Glass

I really like the guitar sound on this tune. It’s more of a straight ahead rocker and it really works quite well. Even with that more straightforward approach overall, they manage to take this into some exploratory directions with the extended instrumental section later.

The Sun Will Set

There is a noise rock sound to the opening of this. It almost feels like some killer stoner metal. Alternative rock, punk and grunge all seem to combine on this killer cut. It’s fairly slow and fairly short, but also very tasty.

Violent

Alternative rock and grunge merge on this song. Yet, there’s also almost a 1950s rock element at play, too. Radiohead is a valid reference point on this one, too, though.

Silence
There’s nothing silent about this. It’s a hard rocking jam that’s pretty securely set in the realm of alternative rock. It’s also quite cool.
Wax Wings

Somehow this rocker has just a touch of Cheap Trick in it, at least to me. It’s got a little more of a mellow vibe than some of the other stuff here and definitely plenty of that Radiohead element in place. It’s also one of my favorites on this set.

Let Down

Here we get a ballad. Sure, it’s still got that alternative rock vibe, but it’s a mellow ballad. It’s also quite tasty. Well, it’s a ballad for the first two minutes or so. Then it powers out to another Radiohead like jam. I really like this one a lot.

Open Arms

All the familiar players in terms of musical references are here on this song, too. Yet, it just doesn’t seem to really gel or stand out that well. There’s nothing wrong with it. It just doesn’t feel like it’s as strong as the material around it. It’s a little forgettable.

Standing

Although this is basically alternative rock and grunge, there is an older rock sound here. This is quite an accessible number and has a great guitar sound.

Triggers

A mellower tune, this is quite accessible. Somehow the earlier, slower, less powered up parts make me think of both The Doors and U2 somehow. Later, when it rocks out more I think of Cheap Trick a little. All in all, this is cool.

Seasons

Fairly slow and measured, this is melodic and quite effective. The references to Radiohead are valid here for sure. There is a nice noisy bit of distortion that rides waves over the top. This makes for a solid ending tune. The extended instrumental movement near the end really takes on some rather progressive rock like elements.

 
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