SIXTY 8 - review added 17th April 2009
Album Review: Before The Fall (2008)
For fans of: hard rock... and singers you think you recognise but probably don't.
Sixty 8 were formed in 2004 in the good old US of A. They consist of Tryg Bundgaard (lead vocals), Kurt Schwartz (guitar and vocals), James Lee Humes (guitars), Brett Eurich (drums) and Paul Asher York (bass) and are a band who almost defy categorization. They cover so many styles and sounds on this album you never know which boundary they are going to cross next. Before The Fall should be a mess... but isn't.
There's Southern blues, hard rock, hints of heavy metal, country, straight ahead rock 'n' roll and even some glam in the bowl. The guys mix it up into a creamy sauce you could pour on apple pie. The musical influences are obviously far too complicated to list here, but if you think along the lines of everybody in the entire world apart from Celine Dion, you'll be in the right ball park.
The vocals are a little easier to nail down. There's an obvious twang of Axl Rose in Tryg's vocals. He doesn't climb the peaks the ginger screamer reaches, but there are definite inflections and nuances in his range you could mistake for both classic and modern era Guns'n'Roses. Mix in influences from Brian Johnson of AC/DC and you end with a screeching yet highly musical voice. Tryg also lowers the volume of exhalation on occasions and produces a softer, more melodic tone. He perhaps loses a little character in his introspective moments, but his voice never becomes tuneless or in any way bad.
'Interactive' is incredibly 'Chinese Democracy' in the chorus. It has a very produced and multi-layered sound that comes across as intelligent rather than artificial. There's some great sounding guitar work on 'Better Days'. In fact the whole song is bloody amazing and has that instant classic feel that's so often missing in modern tracks. I suspect, given time, it could become an out and out favourite song of many people. It really is that good.
'I Won't Play' has a gnarly shout along chorus that'll make you fall from your seat if you aren't expecting it. The vocals go almost ultrasonic a couple of times, which is perhaps more amusing than it is supposed to be. 'Confessions' is a grown up song with more class than a royal garden party. It's a laid back pipe smoking gigolo of a track that showcases the band with balloons and ticker tape. It's up there with 'Better Days' as the daddy of the album.
The songs on Before The Fall are great. There are only a few amazing moments but it's not an album that needs a menagerie of them. This is a grower that may find it's score gradually creeping upwards as time moves on. For now I rate it very highly but feel that last few percentage points of brilliance have yet to reveal themselves. When they do, rest assured the score will reach for the stars.
Check out... 'Better Days' and 'Confessions'. They'll send shivers down your spine.
Track List:
01. Blood Red Sky
02. Interactive
03. Any Race Of Man
04. Over
05. Better Days
06. The Race Goes On
07. I Won't Play
08. All She's Ever Known
09. Alone
10. Confessions
11. Killing Time
12. Shadow
Artist's websites: MySpace
