The Higher – On Fire
The Higher, a Las Vegas pop punk group, has that same LV swagger that can be seen from fellow Las Vegas natives, The Cab. Through their fast paced instrumental rhythms, and up-tempo vocals, you get action packed music, that’s as if soul meets pop. Having already released an album prior to On Fire (2007), they are somewhat veterans to the genre, yet have managed a low profile. With the release of founding member, Tom Oakes (guitar/vocal), it’ll be interesting to see how The Higher continues, but nonetheless, On Fire is a spectacular album.
Insurance?, the first track comes through in full throttle with every element that I enjoy about this band being brought out. First and foremost the vocals are really catchy, and have quite an original sound. Slightly high pitched with a hint of rasp, it’s very cool and really fitting for the music. With the high paced rhythm of the lyrics, it makes the music more exciting and pleasing. A lot of the jazz of this band comes from the instruments, with their exciting guitar work, and epic synths. The drums round out the sound, to create a thrilling rock/dance lounge type feeling. This may be one of the more dance oriented songs on the album, with its higher pace, and upbeat styling.
Guts, the second song, is a little less jazzy and a little more soulful. Slowing things down and changing the tone of the instruments, it shows a softer side to The Higher. With such an intuitive range of sounds, The Higher has shown a great collection of talents. Guts uses the same vocal approach as Insurance? but by tweaking the instruments and lyrical melody, we get something totally different. This song doesn’t have the swagger of the first track but is much more sentimental, an equal trade off.
The rest of the album has tracks in between this range from glamour dance to soulful rock. Some other notable songs are Histrionics, the title of their first album, and a song they transferred over to On Fire. Being only a minute and forty-seven seconds long, it’s a really short acoustic track that is full of catchy, emotional music. Darkpop is another song I really enjoyed, with an epic aggressive verse it turns into a climatic chorus that’s moving and hits the spot. DARE is a track that’s very mellow, from the instruments to the vocals, everything is slowed and made much simpler.
The Higher is an amazing band who has a wide variety of sound. Every track on On Fire, have individual elements that make them stand out, and in the end listeners get an album full of entertaining songs. With their bar/lounge type instrumentals, it’s easy to guess these guys are from Las Vegas. On Fire is a great album, definitely recommended to anyone who has been following my posts. Their swagger, their style, their class, is what makes me want to listen to them more and more. With their participation at Warped, I’m stoked to get the opportunity to see them live, and it should be a great performance.
Check out their Myspace for official tour dates and news.
