ERIK LARSON (The Resounding) CD
I guess, the name Erik Larson is unknown to most of the readers. Larson played drums for Avail from '91-'99, and he was the singer-drummer of the Sludgecore band Kilara. Apart of it, he's the driving guitar force behind Alabama Thunderpussy and with "The Resounding" he had done his first solo album. I'm really positiv surprised about the twelve songs, that are only reminding me a bit to ATP. A few of the tracks were written five years ago. The lyrics of the album are recommandable, too. The next surprise is, that Larson has played nearly all instruments on the complete album, only Sam Krivanec plays the bass and Kachina Oxendine has taken over a few vocal-parts, as in the beautiful and un-cheesy lovesong "Hardest Thing to Write About" (that's true!). But also Erik Larson's voice fits excellent to the songs, and he succeeded in creating an organic sounding album, where you really got the impression a complete band is playing the songs.
It's not easy to pick out single songs, because the album functions as an entire unit and there aren't any fillers. But if you need some tips, I recommend the powerful bluesy "Our Voice", that starts quiet and than simply explodes. Great! Then there's the excellent groovy "Rede" with its Skynyrd-influences or "Make It", an atmospheric melancholic acoustic Folk-ballad, or the outstanding "Happy New War", with its critical lyrics about the actual US foreign policy, and that's not a matter of course for US musicians in this times. Other personal tips are the hard rockin' "Burning Fast" or "I Feel like Ted Nugent" (hahaha....!), with its Detroit vibe. Ok, to sum it up:"The Resounding" is a damn fine varied album, which pleases me more than the last two CD's of ATP. Here you can listen to passionate heavy melodic Rock songs, but there's also something for your heart. Absolutely recommandable, so go and buy it! "The Resounding" has been released in March 2003 on Small Stone Records, so visit their homepage and place your order.
(KK)