Posted on: October 22, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Sounding at times like Yellowcard and all of those emo-rock bands that are continually charting in these late days of the genre, Moments in Grace create a palatable sound that yet has little in the way of substance. Jeremy’s voice is remarkably similar to Rivers Cuomo, and in tracks like “Broken Promises”, the guitars swirl around to give the entire track more of a Tool track. While everything seems to be so well put together, the simple fact is that there is not a marketable radio track on this disc at all. “These Days Will Fade” is an example of a CD that is completely written to make it onto the radio and various video formats, but due to a lack of vision and originality, will always be slotted for cut-out bins. To finish off the disc, we are left with “The Silencing Truth”, another track that aurally has nothing wrong about it, but really lacks that one catchy hook to it.

However, the one song that is ever so close to that eluysive brass ring would have to be “The Silencing Truth”, in which the guitars race along with the sonic screams of Jeremy to their all-too-short end. “Curtain Call”, the third track on the disc, is another par for the course type of song, with Jeremy’s singing pretty much dwarfing the entirety of the track. Opening up the aforementioned “The Silencing Truth” with a strong guitar line, the song quickly devolves into the typical brand of Rolling Stone-alternative rock with a slightly more grungy edge. Like a number of bands that I have reviewed lately, the problem is not with the overall sound of the band, but the fact that these bands can ape influential artists and make radio-friendly tracks, but have nothing in the sense of heart or originality.

The nuances of Jeremy’s voice may just be the only thing that has not been done to death on this album. After a few plays, the subtleties of “Stratus” will eventually ingratiate themselves to the listener, which will be broken by the awful AFI/A7X-style bridge, in which Jeremy’s voice proves inadequate to pull together the two distinct parts of the song. Moments in Grace may have everything that they need in terms of recording or technical proficiency, but there are not those strides of originality that really separate those inventive bands from the rest of the pack.

Rating: 5.6/10

Moments in Grace – These Days Will Fade / 2003 Salad Days Records / 4 Tracks / http://www.momentsingrace.com/ Reviewed 27 January 2004

Top Tracks : Stratus

Leave a Comment