Album Reviews
Hailing from Oakland, CA, States Of Nature come at you with a ‘danceable hybrid of Post-Hardcore and Rock N’Roll’ disclaimer. Which is actually a pretty solid description for the sounds they crank out on their latest full-length, ‘Brighter Than Before’.
They kick things off with the title track, which offers a danceable take on the Hot Snakes sound, before diving into the krautrock-specked ‘Wicked World,’condensed in under 3 minutes yet still managing to offer a whole lot of everything. Throughout the rest of the album, you are treated to a lot more elements from post-hardcore, kraut, psych, garage and post-punk, stuffed with big dollops of trustworthy rock ‘n roll and slick, melodic choruses. More album highlights include the semi-poppy ‘Papered News’, the more atmospheric, gloomy ‘Undone’ (not a cover of the Weezer sweater song) and the fierce ‘American Drone,’ which comes at you with jagged riffs and tightly wound drums
The lyrics are darker than you might be lent to believe from an album titled ‘Brighter Than Before’. Juxtaposed against the band’s upbeat and jangly tunes, come songs that deal with the decay of the American Dream, e.g. single ‘New Foundations,’ which comments on the homelessness epidemic and housing crisis in California.
All of the above are basically a lot of words to say that ‘Brighter Than Before’ is an extremely solid album that has something for everyone.
Brighter Than Before track list:
- Brighter Than Before
- Wicked World
- Papered News
- Tides
- Undone
- New Foundations
- God With a Gun
- American Drone
- The Return
- Oh The Light
Lacking the talent to actually play in a band, Tom decided he would write about bands instead. Turns out his writing skills are mediocre at best as well.
