BLACK CANDY STORE - review added 8th April 2010
Album Review: Back To The Wall (2010)
For fans of: Alt Rock... and Stereophonics
Black Candy Store, from southern France, is Arno on vocals, Julien on guitars, percussion and keyboards, Marco on bass, and Flo on drums. The band officially began at the end of 2008, although some of the members performed together prior to this. Back To The Wall, their debut album, was recorded at Mooncow Studios and mastered by Dave Collins (Linkin Park, Soundgarden) in L.A..
The sound is interesting. It combines the softer side of grunge with the harder side of soft rock, and throws a few gnarly elements into the mixing pot too. The result brings to mind what The Stereophonics would sound like if they had come from Seattle. Arno's style is very reminiscent of Kelly Jones - not an exact copy but certainly of the same ilk.
The result is a classy, if understated album. It's modern, and very pleasant on the ears...but almost too polite for it's own good. The more raunchy guitar sounds that pop their heads up bring a much needed layer of spunk, but overall Black Candy Store are still a few leagues away from greatness. They can perform - boy do they have the talent - but they need much better songs to really show off what they have. 'Wounded', 'Humility', and 'The Pledge' are by far the best tracks, but they still only hint at brilliance.
This is an okay album that showcases a great band. It's a shame, because these guys clearly have it in them to be massive.
Check out... 'Humility'. Cool track.
Track List:
01. Back The The Wall
02. Someday
03. Swine Seed
04. Recall
05. Wounded
06. Hollow
07. Humility
08. Bittersweet Euphoria
09. The Pledge
10. Upward Spiral
Label: 7Hard
Artist's website(s): MySpace
