Posted on: July 3, 2009 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

Starting off “Pleasure” with a guitar-led beginning that would be proper in the soundtrack for any action hero movie, Classic Case frequently inflame the senses of their listener with tremendous amounts of different sounds. The disc begins with “Modus Operandi”, a hard-hitting track driven by the twin assault of drums and guitar, topped off by the late-nineties alternative sound of Jared’s vocals. The follow-up track, “Down And Out”, restraining the energy of “Modus Operandi” in a much more calm track, shows the new-rock side of the band. Jared’s voice is stretched a mite too far during the bridge between the slow and faster-tempo section, but the ambient noise of the lighter side of “Down and Out” makes up for this deficiency with a solidly-arranged ambience. Splitting off the guitars into each speaker’s channel may work for when the band works on different levels, but the presence of this phenomenon on this track just sounds as if the same guitar is just playing slightly different riffs.

The electricified “Saturated” showcases yet another facet to the band – mixing the best of Filter, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stone Temple Pilots, and Radiohead, the track actually navigates through the incredible amount of influences to create its own new ground. A chiaroscuro, as mixture of light and dark elements, is present during “Saturated” and is contained purely in the guitar dynamic. The drums are as hard-hitting as they can be.; contrast the sheer power of the drums on “Saturated” to those heard on Authority Zero’s “Mexican Radio”, and one will find that both Stefan and A0’s drummer are at the forefront of all drummers playing in the current time. Mixing a little Coheed and Cambria to a Puddle of Mudd/Staind style duplication of layers for “Saturated”, Classic Case furthers their reputation as a band that draws broadly from bands past and present as has the virtuosity necessary to create something that is probably as far away from being derived as anything can be in the current.

While the disc is over before it gets a chance to be started; the five-song format is often a sick tease, providing enough songs for an individual to get a sense of the band but not enough to completely sate, Classic Case holds tremendous amounts of potential, enough so that I believe that the energy contained on “Pleasure” could be transferred to a full-length that would be double the length.

Rating: 6.0/10

Classic Case – It’s Been Business Doing Pleasure With You / 2004 Self-Released / 5 Songs / http://www.classiccase.net / Reviewed 08 September 2004

Top Track: Modus Operandi

Leave a Comment