Last night my roommate was watching the latest Walking Dead while I attempted to beat the writers block that had been holding me hostage for the past week. I looked over my notes, remembered when I listened to Go For Launch’s Frequency Change. Last week, a Yugoslavian woman was chatting up a youth and I drowned out their unpleasant conversation with Go For Launch, and it fit the bright day with due to its rock sound that had a dash of Rasta to make it feel like 311 had a little musical baby that wasn’t prone to the rapping gene.
If one phrase had to be used to summarize the songs on this album, it’d have to be; music over anything. Almost every song is cradled by the instrumentation, keeping the lyrics safe and bundled in between the sheets of chords. And while the sound of 311 was something that was easy to hear, there was another band that snuck in that took some time to figure out. As “Severed” played, Bayside came to mind…Just a more upbeat Bayside. Then there was “Something Major” that made me feel like I was a judge on a reality show. Scott Griffin seemed like he was holding back in his voice just a bit, and I wanted him to belt it out and go for it in this slower piece.
And while I never got the oomph I wanted in “Something Major,” I quickly shut up as “Don’t Make the Man” started. A song that non-church goers will quickly be drawn to once they hear the well delivered “faith don’t make the man,” while anyone else will be taken by the heavy breakdown.
A little Bayside in the vocals, but not enough to make them “comparable.” All I can say is that if you like your bands with a little bounce in their music with an overall rock sound, and have one or two 311 tees in your collection, then Go For Launch’s Frequency Change is next on your “to buy” list when it’s out March 13th.
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