3 keepers
keeper avg .250
The once-darlings of Chicago alt-rock seem to have waited 11 years after their previous "comeback" album in 2011 to continue in the same vein as their 90's swan song "Exit The Dragon" (1995). After opening with a half-ass piss-take on Wham's (1985 in the US) hit "Freedom," which surely generated some clicks, the album really begins with the moody "A Necessary Evil", complete with all of Eddie "King" Roeser's trademarks, namely subdued riffs and his Keith Richards rasp; it's a decent start but this track especially seems like a muted version of "The Break" (1995), down to way that the key in the song's bridge modulates in exactly the same way. Of the songwriting duo, Roeser's sensibility is generally on the darker side, and brings brooding riffs and solid melodies to "I Been Ready"****, "Won't Let Go," and the surprisingly heavy-metallic "Litany."
As usual, Kato complements Roeser's grit and menace with a little more flair and pizzazz, with tuneful riff-fests like "Totem Pole" and the upbeat "How Sweet the Light," in which Kato proclaims "I'm walking away from my suicide" in a worthy statement of purpose. Roeser seems to counter with the driving "Forgiven," which is what I bet Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" covered by Tom Petty would sound like, asserting that "I'm gonna be among the livin'." Kato's remaining tracks end up in the discard pile; "I Can't Stay Glad@U" is tuneful but repetitive and "A Prisoner's Dilemma" is a busy, tuneless mess.
Together, Kato and Roeser find the happy medium on "Follow My Shadow"****, with vocals shared between the two; crunchy riffs introduce the driving rocker, and Roeser's husky growl gives the song a palpable urgency. The album closes out with two Roeser tracks. The pre-hair metal hard-rocking "Won't Let Go" has some aggressive guitar sounds but isn't terribly exciting otherwise. The slow-burning closer "Snow"**** oozes foreboding in its sparseness, like the grunge/post-new-wave offspring of "Moving In Stereo" (The Cars, 1978). In summary, though both Kato and Roeser seem to have borne half the songwriting weight, I think Roeser's songs carry this one. Though neither of these guys are remotely good as singers, either Kato didn't have the vocal chops or his voice just never fit with this material, and all his songs suffer by comparison.
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