Sparks The Rescue – Eyes To The Sun
Fearless records is a music label I tend to keep a very keen eye on. They first sparked my interest with artists such as The Maine and Plain White T’s, and have since continued to deliver outstanding young bands to the powerpop community. Sparks The Rescue, a recent Fearless signing, dropped their debut album Eyes To The Sun this past Tuesday. Sparks The Rescue is a five piece band from Portland, Maine and have been playing together for nearly a decade. This band has a knack for creating catchy pop music, with a style that’s mature and seemingly established. Eyes To The Sun demonstrated their multifaceted style, with emphasis on both light-hearted pop and more emotional, heavier rock. Clearly they have been influenced by several different bands, and this experience has positively affected their music.
After a thorough listen of the album, it’s evident that the vocals of Alex Roy are perhaps the single greatest attribute of this band. Obviously there is much more to the music than the lead singer but his sound is so perfectly suited for this band and perhaps the genre. Alex’s voice also showed great diversity from song to song, with remnants of old school UK pop to modern styled emo rock. Surprisingly his range is not all that impressive and his sound really does not change much if at all, but his execution of the vocal melodies is what really impresses me. His change ups can really set the pace and mood of the track. Besides my appreciation for the lead vocals, Sparks The Rescue also significantly relies on the backup vocals to further compliment the mood.
Songs that take on the friendlier and more carefree approach include My Heart Radio, and I Swear That She’s The One. The vocals in these tracks rely primarily on Alex’s nasally sound, that tends to be on the high side. That said they give off a very exciting pace and have a convincing UK accent to them. The melodies are sincerely upbeat, and revolve around themes of girls and lust. I enjoyed these vibrant tracks a little more because they are first and foremost, extremely entertaining and fun to hear. These tracks can be listened to at a moments notice, and still have that same hopeful quality after each go, which to me is a sign of great powerpop. The instrumentals don’t stand out very much on their own, but they provide that summer sound that so perfectly matches the vocals. It is the fun and creative mindset of Sparks The Rescue that makes these tracks so compelling, yet so carefree.
On the other spectrum Sparks The Rescue shows off there versatility with tracks like Autumn and American Blues, which get progressively more aggressive. From the more intense vocals to the hard hitting instruments, there is definitely a serious intonation given off. The band starts to turn up the heat in these tracks, opting for grungy guitar work, and fast-paced, aggressive vocals. The themes still revolve around girls and the like, but obviously the side that most people don’t like to relate to but have probably experienced once in their lifetime. Alex’s vocals also seem to lose the UK sound, and begin to feel more like an American powerpop group. I didn’t like this style as much, because it felt a little less creative, only because there are more bands who try to emulate this style compared to the laxed version of Sparks The Rescue. However, the backup vocals have a more prominent role in shelling out that darker side to them. In Autumn, the backup vocals play a huge role in the chorus, and I thought they were well sung, and could easily play as the lead if ever needed. The lower pitched voice sounded great against the higher lead vocals, similar to the way Forever The Sickest Kids does it.
Eyes To The Sun was a very well done first effort, that sounded better than a lot of bands sophomore or senior albums. The great thing about Sparks The Rescue, is their truly established sound, they are a band that is mature yet still young enough to be very creative. Their songs are always full and well composed, making for exciting music that never seems bland or mediocre. Whether or not this is the full potential of Sparks The Rescue, I can’t be certain, but otherwise there is not much work needed to improve their sound. They have a solid style and if they can keep up the creativity, than they will be another Fearless success story. Currently touring with Every Avenue and The Morning Light, they are already amongst good company.
Check out their Myspace for more info.
Sparks The Rescue – Hello Mexico
Tags: album
Good recommendation -