Photo by: live4ever.uk.com
The Boxer Rebellion has all the elements of an exciting alternative rock band – a singer with a powerful voice, an interesting back-story, a catchy name, and a rather unique tone that can’t easily be pinpointed to one geographic region.
It is unfortunate, then, that on their third full-length record, The Cold Still, The Boxer Rebellion found their sound hampered by repetitive vocals, timid songwriting and weak production, which together turn an album that has the elements of greatness into a truly mediocre and, unfortunately, thoroughly forgettable affair.
The album begins promisingly enough. Opener “No Harm” begins with some dirgeful piano chords and slow tom-based percussion, which together serve as the foundation for the introduction of lead singer Nathan Nicholson’s emotive vocals.
It’s a song that sounds like it might explode at any moment, but maturely holds its breath, only exhaling slightly at the end to transition into the up-tempo “Step Out of the Car,” a song with a guitar line and vocal hook that sound practically lifted from Radiohead’s “Bodysnatchers.” It’s a fine song, but even after its tightly-orchestrated finish, one can’t help but think–Radiohead did it better.
Such is the case for much of The Cold Still, in which The Boxer Rebellion spends more time reminding the listener of other, better bands than actually making any solid statements of their own.
The cringe-inducing title “Organ Song” begins with a held organ chord (almost exactly like Arcade Fire’s “Intervention”) and then quickly evolves into a weakly driving song that sounds like a Mumford & Sons throwaway.
“Both Sides Are Even” is a weak attempt at channeling Kid A-era Radiohead. “Locked In the Basement” sounds like a cookie-cutter version of the band Blitzen Trapper.
As the album progresses, the vocals stray from stirring and welcoming and instead become irritatingly repetitive.
Nicholson may have a great voice, but he’s simply not a clever songwriter, repeating melodies within each song to the point of it becoming truly grating – his incessant slurring of words doesn’t help either.
It’s such a problem for the album that the brief moments of vocal exploration (such as the last line of “Locked In the Basement”) and the limited instances of instrumental dominance are, by comparison, extremely refreshing.
However, even these (brief) moments where the backing band does have the chance to rock out, are sonically crippled by the album’s stale production.
While “No Harm” builds tension expertly, and “Cause for Alarm” is both enveloping and beautiful, the rest of the songs sound not bad, but dull and unchallenging, which might actually be worse.
All of these different factors result in an album that’s easy to listen to but hard to love, or even appreciate.
Not lyrically deep—or instrumentally talented—enough to find a niche in the indie scene, but not bold—or powerful—enough to work as a radio-friendly alternative rock band, The Boxer Rebellion have made a third album so unbelievably bland that it will piss you off with its inability to do even that.
For a band who seems so intent on making grand statements, The Boxer Rebellion’s new album produces a sound that is, unfortunately, extremely muddled.
