M.I.C. - review added 1st June 2009
Album Review: Made In China (2009)
For fans of: Alt Rock... and smooth roughness
M.I.C. is the latest project of Canadian-born singer/guitarist Yvon Serré. At the end of '04 he returned to China from his native Ottawa and soon had the seeds of the band. Along with Billy Ren on bass, Chris Yang on drums and Mark Mcleod on keyboards, the material was written and recorded during 07/08 but it was a year before full production was completed.
The sound is a mix of rock'n'roll, harder rock and, what I guess you could describe as experimental heavy jazz. In the most part the album works well and has a fun upbeat nature that it's hard not to like. Yvon's voice sounds lived-in but never out of tune. He sounds like a man who has spent a lifetime smoking sandpaper cigars and gargling brake fluid. His tone is reasonably clean, but there's a gravelly edge that spoils any illusions of him being a young wannabe.
The opening track 'Take A Look' is okay. It does nothing exceptional but has an indescribable charm. The production is a little raw but fits in with the feel of the song. 'Every Other Day' is hewn from the same ideas, but is perhaps a little better. The sax work and frequent key changes lift the track to a more polished level.
'Everything You Do' starts with a sax solo, then goes down a Green Day tangent and finally adds elements of the Beatles' psychedelic era. This is a song that should be utterly awful but isn't. It has more than a hint of Enuff Z'nuff about it and is quite different to many of the other songs on the album.
'Give Me Cash' is a fun track with punk vibrations in its bones. It isn't up there with the classics of the late 70's - it just isn't aggressive or insistent enough - but the song does warrant plenty of merit. 'Can't Let Go' and 'Let Me Be Your King' both take the sound back to the slower, more traditional rock'n'roll vibe. The guitar solo's in each are, whilst not Yngwie-worrying, mightily nice.
Made In China is an enjoyable romp through the land of pub-tinged soft rock. The production is distinctly rough and ready and, whilst the performances are fine, there's little on the album that's going to be reaping awards around the world.
Check out... The punk-vibe of 'Give Me Cash'.
Track List:
01. Take A Look
02. Every Other Day
03. Rock & Roll
04. I Don't Need You
05. Everything You Do
06. Give Me Cash
07. Can't Let Go
08. Let Me Be Your King
09. Let's Do It
Artist's website(s): M.I.C. | MySpace | Facebook
