OFFICIAL: http://rejectionistfront.com/
Written
by Jason Hillenburg, posted by blog admin
New
York City based Rejectionist Front’s second album Evolve picks up where they
left off with their debut Shock the Conscious Mass and take things a step
further. Fronted by singer/songwriter/activist Michael Perlman, the band sports
some obvious music influences they spin in a distinctly modern and
individualistic way. It remains an entertaining effort that never presents an
out of whack balance between the songs’ primary elements. There’s a dozen songs
on this album and they avoid the dreaded sophomore slump thanks to retaining
the same focus on the songwriting that made the first album stand out so
strongly. Produced by World2Be Entertainment, Evolve has an impressive and
forceful sound that, nonetheless, comes across with great warmth and bottom
end.
“Ride”
is an evocative and superbly orchestrated opener. The band definitely follows
the example of ambitious alt rock and classic rock acts with the dynamic thrust
of the song, the alternating passages of light and shadow, but they
unexpectedly sweeten their musical stew with multi-part harmony vocals that
enhance the performance in unexpected ways. “All I Am” is a much more
straight-forward rocker with some inspired, even slightly raunchy, guitar
playing from Lincoln Prout. Perlman has a tangible vocal presence on both of
the first two songs, but the harmony vocals from Prout and bassist Tony Tino
are equally crucial on the album’s second cut. “All Is the Same” has a faint
hint of Pearl Jam’s influence permeating the tune, but there’s a steady amble
to the track that quickly ingratiates itself with the audience. The rhythm
section of Tino and drummer Dave Dawson turn in a particularly interesting
performance with their work on the song. Perlman’s talent for writing
issue-oriented tunes that embrace a very human quality makes his writing
resound with a more timeless quality and rarely is that more apparent than on
the track “Reclaim”. Dawson’s drumming is strong again and there’s some light
strings employed with this number. This is, unquestionably, an anthem in
Rejectionist Front’s own distinctive style, but nonetheless recognizable.
There’s
some great riffing and transitions making “Flush” fly like it needs to and
there’s little doubt why the band chose it as a single release. It’s a
turbulent and entertaining tune with the same vocal excellence in a hard rock
setting that distinguished the earlier songs. They mix the pensive and raucous on
the song “Hold Or Break” and it’s another passionate guitar workout with one of
Perlman’s most diverse vocals on Evolve. Rejectionist Front concludes their
second album with the song “Inside of Me” and follows much of the same template
laid down in the more modulated tracks, but they further refine the technique
here with a more nuanced approach. It ends Evolve on the same intelligent note
that defines the album’s twelve songs. Rejectionist Front’s sophomore slump
proves to be nothing of the kind; instead, this improves on the first album and
represents a new peak for their efforts.
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