Posted: June 27th, 2009
Contributed By: Nick
 |
Purchase @ Amazon.com Release Date: January 29th, 2009 (Independent) |
| Track Fighter is: TJ Chopelas (Vocals) Dean Jordan (Guitar) Mike House (Guitar) Greg Culler (Bass) Jeffrey Wathan (Drums) |
Overview: What on earth does a band do for an encore after being featured as one of TuneLab Music’s 25 Unsigned Bands to Know in 2008? Why they return to the studio to work on a new EP, which is exactly what Sacto’s Track Fighter did. Producer Beau Hill (Bob Dylan, Warrant) took Track Fighter under his wing and helped steer the recording sessions that lasted for most of 2008. Fresh into 2009, Track Fighter unleashed their new beast, an EP titled ‘Band Aids For Bullet Wounds’.
The Good: Track Fighter seem to have simmered down a bit for ‘Band Aids For Bullet Wounds’, but lacking in skill they are not. “In The Middle of the Night” is a venture through scrappy verses and slinky choruses. Vocalist TJ Chopelas belts out his feelings with earnesty, using a fractured relationship as his vocal sinew. Track Fighter emanate a latter-day 18 Visions with “Just Above Water”, where stormy guitar chugs and industrial gestures are interspersed atop jangling drums. “Too Broken to Mend” is stimulating and purgative, and sees Chopelas howl out a very Damien Starkey-like wail leading into the near-experimental bridge. The consistently upbeat and perky spine of “Closer to Closure” is warmly clothed in multiple layers of guitar texturing, including a ripping solo courtesy of Dean Jordan. “Wake Up” gets in your face and stays there with a never-ending surge of omnipresent guitars and monolithic choruses, bolstered by a barrage of we-mean-business gang vocals. The sum of the parts of its five predecessors, “Pushing Me Away” is a dynamic anchor that is both irascible and atmospheric.
The Bad: There’s a lot of clutter on ‘Band Aids For Bullet Wounds’ that makes it an almost distracting listen at times. This is especially true in regards to “In The Middle of the Night” and “Just Above Water”, where some reedy plinking cuts through the sound and quite frankly makes it impossible to enjoy. TJ Chopelas is a strong singer, but after awhile his voice gets lost in his oft-maudlin lyrics, making moments of conviction sound like cacophonous bleating. Guitar-wise, both axe-men have solid chops; however, their need to be in the forefront a bulk of the time comes off as haughty. The whole EP, sans the last two tracks feels slightly sluggish, and Track Fighter unload every verve in their repertoire to keep their heads above water in a just-north-of-mid-tempo sea.
Bottomline: Sadly, the traits that made me fall most in love with Track Fighter are scant, if not completely left out of ‘Band Aids For Bullet Wounds’. Gone is the unbridled, austere energy in favor of passé, static mid-tempo missives. Sure, Track Fighter bring the heat on a handful of diatribes. But don’t let these nostalgic moments of truth get your hopes up, because wolf Track Fighter jumps right back into the sheep suit, continuing to pursue a Funeral For a Friend type sound. I have just one piece of advice to offer Track Fighter-stop trying to sound like Funeral For a Friend or whoever and get back to sounding like Track Fighter.
TuneLab Rating: 4 out of 10
4 Responses to “Review: Track Fighter – ‘Band Aids for Bullet Wounds’”
I have to completely disagree with you. This is an amazing EP and the live show is even better. The Normally I agree with your reviews but I think you are way off the mark on this one.
There are only two members of the band left from that previous album that you love so much. They were sent into the studio at a point where they were still learning how to play with each other. Changing three musicians in a band takes time for the new lineup to gel. Also, the sessions were somewhat rushed based on time restraints. Furthermore, Beau Hill was probably not a good choice to produce this EP based on what sound the guys were looking for.
With that being said, there are several big names in the industry keeping a very close eye on these guys based on this EP that you seemed to dislike.
So in other words his review is correct because according to you Ryche the musicians in the band, “weren’t gelling”, the cd was “rushed”, and they picked a “poor choice” in Beau Hill producing the EP? BUT… because you like the band so much you’re willing to overlook all that and declare its a great EP just because of what? you’re a huge fan? lol
and congrats for the guys if they have big names keeping such a close eye… that doesn’t mean it has to get a good review. that would be called band wagon jumping.
RaNight, I guess what I was trying to say is the EP is great despite some of the issues that I brought up. Maybe I did a poor job of trying to get that across as I was a bit rushed on my lunch hour when I posted. The band has opted for a slightly different sound due to new members and a producer that toned them down. To be honest with you this style is going to be more appealing to the masses. The ladies are going to love “In the middle of the night” regardless of what you or I think. I feel the reviewer couldn’t get past the fact that they are evolving as a band by using more harmonizing and less screaming on most songs. Bands change sounds all the time but it doesn’t make the new product any less polished or worthy of respect and/or praise.
I simply think that a 4 out of 10 pretty much labels something as a waste of time which this EP is not. I would definitely say it is worth a 6 out of 10. To me this means there are things that could have been better about the disc but it has a lot going for it that people would enjoy. Am I a fan? Yes, I am. And to be honest I think this disc and this version of the band is light years ahead of the previous efforts. I just want people to give it a listen because there is something very good there. Again, I normally agree with the reviews on this site but this one missed in my opinion.
Ryche: “I have to completely disagree with you. This is an amazing EP…”
“the EP is great…”
“I would definitely say it is worth a 6 out of 10.”
I wouldn’t say a 6 out of 10 is a great or an amazing score.