The Exit – Home For An Island (CD)

“Home For An Island” begins painting The Exit as a brooding, intense rock act that takes a little bit from a number of genres. “Don’t Push” uses Police-like reggae to really amaze listeners in the first few minutes of the disc, while the vocals present will be enough to melt listeners’ hearts. This reggae-like sound is continued throughout the disc, the same template used again for “Back To The Rebels”. The similarity of the two tracks previously mentioned provides the only real stumbling block to what is in all reality a very fun and catchy band. The arrangements are properly structured and dense, while the vocals resonate strongly through each of the tracks, even if the general sound refuses to vary in the opening section of the disc.

While the instrumentation finally begins to change up slightly during “Pressure Cooker”, the vocals probe the same exact place as prior tracks. There may be something to be said about a certain cohesion exhibited on a disc, but The Exit move well beyond that and use a cohesion that strifle any form of artistic expression. This form of constriction is the aural equivalent of a straitjacket, making something that could be enjoyable critically (as the disc does impress quite often on a track to track basis) only something that can be enjoyed at a single-by-single basis. The fifty-minute runtime of “Home For An Island” becomes extremely problematic as The Exit do not provide anything really new to latch onto after the first track of the disc. “Tell Me All Again” largely follows these same stylistic weaknesses, but stands out from the mass of tracks specifically because The Exit really adds a certain amount of nuance to their hard-hitting style. The inclusion of a second vocal to bolster the primary set at points during the track may seem like a small thing, but it does tend to give the disc a slightly different flavor.

The inclusion of a more present bass line during “Tell Me All Again” also tweaks the general sound of the band; this, coupled with the changing vocal sound does not go as far to save the disc but it does provide that small amount of variation necessary to urge listeners on to the last part of the disc. The disc’s later tracks may be better at variation than the previous half of “Home For An Island”, but the fact is that The Exit really needs to retool their sound and try to change things up more often than they are on here.

Rating: 4.3/10

Top Tracks: Back To The Rebels, Warm Summer Days

The Exit – Home For An Island / 2005 Wind-Up / 12 Tracks / http://www.theexitrock.com / http://www.winduprecords.com / Reviewed 09 October 2005

[JMcQ]