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Mourning September
A Man Can Change His Stars
2004, Floodgate Records
Street date: August 10th
One-Sentence Synopsis: one of the most hyped-up releases of the last few months comes up mostly Oklahoma roses, despite naming a song ‘Tonight, Tonight‘ when clearly Smashing Pumpkins did it ten years ago
Tulsa‘s Mourning September, so named due to the fact that according to their bio the vocalist was going through ‘some rough times personally‘ around September 2001, and then 9/11 happened, should have been called Mourning The Identity Theft Of Thrice Minus The Metal Parts, which isn‘t to say that this isn‘t a fun record to listen to; it‘s just been done before. Hints of Chevelle (check the monster breakdown in ‘Every Dream‘ - almost identical) and new Underoath creep in, but for the most part these ten songs rely on the tried-and-true method of big guitars, great lead vocals with some really nice harmonies strewn throughout (anyone know if they do that live?) and some big, down-tuned nü-metal breakdowns here and there for ear candy purposes.
Production by ace James Wisner (Underoath, Further Seems Forever, Dashboard Confessional) assured me months before this record hit my stereo that it would sound amazing, and it does: everything this band does well is placed perfectly in the mix; it‘s almost too perfect, in fact, but better that than a sloppy recording - the band spent a month in Wisner‘s Florida studio, so you know sloppiness or time weren‘t factors. The influence of labelmates Denison Marrs pops up here and there in the sprightly vocals - the ‘woah-oah-oahs‘, really - and subtle, delicate guitars, and the overall impression is that this band wouldn‘t be out of place opening for a band like Anberlin - which they‘ve done - or Blindside - which by the way they‘ve also done. We‘re talking power pop/rock with heavier elements - some of these songs beg to be done over by some obscure screamo band.
Remember how the Refused (man, what a great band) wrote that song ‘New Noize‘? This record is the Now Noise; the Warped tour eats this stuff up, and you won‘t find it executed much better than Mourning September. If Floodgate plays their cards right and the band hits the road in a big way, don‘t be surprised if big-time exposure comes their way.