ARTIST – CHEMICAL TRIBE EP – BRUISES, SCARS AND SERENITY

REVIEWER – GRAEME WRIGHT

This may seem like a weird analogy, but listening to the new record from Chemical Tribe is a little bit like watching the autopsy scene from John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’. We remove the blanket and immediately recognise this beast as pop/punk. Then somebody says, “Is that a bit of Americana in there?” ” It’s definitely Hard Rock, but is that a touch of country? Wait, wait, that slide guitar – it’s definitely blues!” In saying this, I’m paying this record a huge compliment. Four tracks, all difficult to pin down, all excellent, and whichever side you dress on the rock music scale, I’m certain you’ll find something in here to enjoy.

The band are a four-piece outfit of experienced Las Vegas musicians and were originally created as the backing band for frontman Dominick Muzio’s solo release ‘Candy At A Funeral’. The vibe from this project was so good that it was decided they needed to move forward as a fully fledged band. I’m glad they did because I enjoyed this record a lot. From the opening bars of the insistent pop-punk sound of ‘Wasting Time’, you quickly realise you’re in safe hands. It has a big earworm sound, is pushed along by an insistent rhythm section and gets its hooks into you from the very first listen. ‘So Sick’ is up next; with its huge bass line, big hook and chorus and a touch of anger in the vocals, it’s another big, fat, dirty-sounding winner. ‘Over Before’ has a slide guitar opening and a big blues/Americana sound with a deeper than usual vocal from Muzio that really hits the spot. ‘Wear Me Down’ changes style again by adding in a bit of Seventies UK punk before morphing into a proper hard rock song with low-slung guitars, a pounding drumbeat and yet another massive chorus.

As you may have gathered, I enjoyed this record a lot. Not afraid to take chances, difficult to pigeonhole and with a big sense of joie de vivre, you really can’t go wrong with this collection of songs. More, please!

EP TRACK LIST

1. Wasting Time
2. So Sick
3. Over Before
4. Wear Me Down

BAND

Dominick Muzio – Lead Singer/Guitar

Shawn Trojahn – Guitar

John Robinson – Bass

Matt Norcross – Drums