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Kivel Records is fast becoming the craftiest label out there when
it comes to album art. Many bands/labels just throw together a cover
almost as an afterthought. That will never happen at Kivel Records.
Check out TNA’s Branded or Adriangale’s Crunch,
for example. For instance, the new release from Straight Wired,
titled Color My World: a boy stands before an empty classroom
and draws a multi-colored world, while the room is ensconced by
a gunmetal gray and foreboding sky. Oblivious to this grayness,
the child sees all colors and doesn’t define anything as “black
or white.” The clock in the classroom read 3:38, noting that
class has been dismissed, and the child is teaching to an empty
classroom. On top of this, a tome with the word “latinum”
stands upright on one of the empty desks. (“Latinum”
is a fictional chemical, appearing mainly in fantasy and science
fiction works.) You have to take this all in before you even get
to note one on Color My World. In other words, this album won’t
make it into the book “Metal for Dummies.”
So
where do we go from here? Track 1 is typically a good place. “Wasting
Away,” blasts at you with attitude, speed, break-neck pacing,
and smart lyrics like “Blind leading blind into damnation,
do you want to belong to my world?” Straight Wired gets compared
to Extreme and Tesla, and while both are apropos and you’ll
hear a little Extreme here, Straight Wired is its own animal.
The
next song, “Gently,” is an acoustic guitar-driven track,
which has main songwriter, singer and guitarist Larry Cooley sounding
a bit like Joe Elliot, especially on the high notes. If radio still
played good music, you’d hear this song once an hour, on the
hour. They tone down the vehemence here, soothing you with the nonsensical
yet effective, “na na na na na na na … all the world
will be knocking and singing.” Their ability to sing harmonies
on this song, as well as throughout the entire CD, is one of their
strengths.
This
is not a proven fact, but the song “Color My World,”
might be the only composition in the history of music to work the
word “ethnocentrism” and “fuck” into the
same song. It just doesn’t happen often. Again, you’ll
hear some Joe Elliot nuances on the vocals, and a noisy, strange
guitar sound. The four-part harmonies on this song amaze as well.
The song changes pace, goes acoustic in parts where before it was
heavier and bass driven, and all around shows the sheer talent and
songwriting these guys wield.
One
interesting note about the band, Cooley takes all lead vocals, plays
electric and acoustic guitar, and also has two solos on this album.
It’s not often you can find someone who can rip off a solo
and sing his heart out with equal aplomb and adeptness, which is
a testament to Cooley‘s abilities.
“Those
Days,” changes things up again, a modern rock sounding tune.
You’ll have to dig the lyrics here, with the line, “Did
you realize you replaced all the lines that you used to refuse to
believe in.” Your regular guy gets ditched by girl track,
but the catchiness towards the end, where it is just the “baby
you and me” being repeated with music, with only drum, and
then a cappella shows that they guys don’t repeat themselves,
even when they do.
The
Extreme comparison shows up on “Johnny,” the guitar
sounding close to “More Than Words.” Vocally, though,
not even close. This is basically a song about the love of music,
and how the main character, Johnny, has a brilliant yet simplistic
philosophy on life: “I don’t want to die, and I don’t
want to cry.” That pretty much covers all the bases, doesn’t
it?
The
end of the CD gets extremely funky, with the songs “Do I Do,”
“Caratjam,” and “Turn You On.” The last
entrance would have been right at home debuting in the ‘70s.
It all comes together to complete the overall Straight Wired sound
though, which almost defies definition. Actually, like that little
boy in the classroom is trying to teach, you don’t need labels,
stereotypes, black and white definitions of anything. It’s
Straight Wired, period … so enjoy.
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