Crashpalace

(Trauma)
by Scott Hefflon

Filter/God Lives Underwater in the production, something fuzzy and vaguely futuristic, and that may be what saves CrashPalace from being just another modern rock radio band. Surprisingly, the more you dig in, the more you realize it’s got some glam (Ziggy Stardust, not Ratt) sound, like when ya hear “20th Century Boy” in that car commercial with stylish-looking people bobbing their heads and ya realize the song only needed a touch of production clean-up to rule all over again.

My pick for single woulda been, “Control,” which opens with a drum loop, but quickly leads into a lush live rock song bursting with melody and big guitar riffs. Like Radiohead’s “Creep” without all that falsetto. On another potential single, “Evolution,” the production is a little more “straight,” with simple strumming and emotive singing and all the usual goods. It’s my least favorite song because it’s the most normal. Other tunes could show “heavy alternative” or “radio hard rock” bands how to suck significantly less. They have the unfortunate tendency to stoop to multiple ballads (one maybe two per release, fellas), but another spin of “Control” and they’re instantly forgiven.
(www.crashpalace.net)