 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Stereotrap
Refusing
2003, independent release
Remember when Creed ruled the airwaves circa 1997 or so? When ‘My Own Prison‘ was by far the most-played song on radio - that period‘s ‘How You Remind Me‘? Yeah, me too. I was seventeen then, a fourth-year high school student or thereabouts (it‘s kinda fuzzy nowadays), and when Creed‘s debut album hit, I was enthralled, downtuning my imitation Les Paul to a big ol‘ fat drop-D tuning so‘s I could learn each of the songs on that record.
However, I was only seventeen then, and my tastes have rather changed in the years since. For the most part I avoid radio and television music programming, having long since learned that there isn‘t much to be offered there. I keep up, but only for the sake of staying current. And then this band Stereotrap shows up in my mailbox - kids, I am telling you, this here is the band who‘ll cure what ails you if you‘re heartbroken over Creed‘s dissolution a few months ago. Vocalist/guitarist Colin Richet‘s voice is a dead ringer for Creed‘s Scott Stapp on the first track, ‘Won‘t Give It Up‘, so much so that initially I could‘ve easily been convinced I was hearing very early Creed demos, albeit with songs that are actually varied in tempo instead of being amazingly similar in structure each time out. The similarity is indeed striking, but where a lot of young bands are products of their influences and content simply to plateau and stagnate, it appears these four Saskatchewan lads might be onto something. They know how to write a catchy song, one that has even this tired-of-radio head nodding along - you can‘t deny the power of chunky riffs, regardless of genre. Man, some of these riffs are killer.
I‘ll be blunt: if you don‘t like radio-friendly power chords and simple melodies and a big baritone voice, stay away from Refusing, because in the current musical climate that likes catchiness, power and singable choruses, Stereotrap could quite possibly find very large success - these cats better make a video soon, because MuchMusic‘ll be all over it. The production on these twelve songs is way above average for an indie debut, done by a fella named Myron Wegner, and if this guy is always this good, maybe your cheesy little garage band should track him down - my only complaint is the washed-out cymbal sound here and there, and that‘s something one adapts to given how good everything else sounds. The guitars are nice whether crushing or delicate, and the bass is audible, carrying its share of the melodies. The requisite power ballads are here (‘Scream To God‘, ‘Forgiveness‘), and the lyrical content is decidedly introspective for the most part, and very centred on the band‘s faith.
To these ears, these songs kind of run together; some would say that if you‘ve heard one radio-friendly rock and roll number, you‘ve heard them all, but even so, there are moments where this band makes me pay attention. Right ouf of the mailbox I was impressed with the effort that‘s gone into this product, from marketing to packaging. Playing high-profile shows in various places (the band has shared stages with contemporary-Christian royalty like Seven Places, Starfield and downhere), and presumably shopping for a label as you read this, I have a suspicion you might hear more from them in the near future. For fans of Creed, Hoobastank, Default and the like.