Posted on: July 4, 2011 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 1

The Rocket Summer sounds about as emo as you can get with their opening track “Move To The Other Side of the Block”, being essentially a Jadisonotes track: a piano with a melo-dramatic set of vocals (laid down by Bryce. What is impressiver about The Rocket Summer is the fact that Bryce does practically everything on the disc, including writing, arranging, singing, and playing on all the track – perhaps this is why the disc has such a cohesive sound to it. The first two tracks spin by much too quick, and this modern-day version of Elton John has put forth eir heart on the line, to reap the biggest of rewards. This is transcendent of genre labels just as the aforementioned John was – this is music for the sake of music, and this will be the reason why when this album comes out it will literally fly off the shelves – the up-tempo music on the disc will cause it to sprout wings!

In the third track of “Hello, Good Friend”, “Around the Clock”, Bryce achieves the solid style of songwriting and arrangement that would be the hallmark of Conor Oberst if the latter actually was on Prozac. I have absolutely no idea where The Militia Group grabbed Bryce from, but their investment in eir future will surely pay off. Each track is a perfectly-polished piece of pop, with fitting instruments thast sound as if they were all played in sync, instead of at different times. This is what the average college student should be listening to instead of the douchebags with acoustics genre (which includes John Maher, Jack Johnson, and the like). Completely soulful, intense, and honest – these are all things that those previous hacks do no5 infuse with their music, and what makes The Rocket Summer so fucking good.

Tracks like “Never Knew” are the some of the most emotionally-affect of recent memory, using the impressive production by Tim O’Hier to flesh out the track and put it in the next echelon of great music. With each track on “Hello, Good Firend”, Bryce continually flips the script and does something different – just listen to the pop-rock ness of “Brat Pack” to get an idea of this. And such, three months into the new year, I believe that this is the best album to come out this year. Don’t strain yourself to try to find mention of Bryce and The Rocket Summer; chances are by July, eir name will be in every relevant music magazine and music video channel, and eir reign on TRL will only by surpassed by eir ticket sales.

Top Tracks: Brat Pack, Never Knew

Rating: 9.7/10

The Rocket Summer – Hello, Good Friend / 2005 The Militia Group / 13 Tracks / http://www.therocketsummer.com / http://www.themilitiagroup.com / Reviewed 04 March 2005

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