Artist: Answer, The
Label: Pias Records
Release: 2009
Length: 46.10
Rating: 3.5/5
The Answer are Irish hard rock janissaries who, after a rapturously received debut, are understandably back this year brimming with verve and confidence, loaded down with a heaping sack of big appetites and even bigger expectations. Three years after Rise happened to them, The Answer now come across in tight landing-force formation, as raw and compact as they’ve ever been. Probably even too much so! Everyday Demons hits us, ready or not, with a good three-quarters of an hour of thunder from a well-oiled, wound-to-the-max rock & roll machine that dutifully skimps on any hope of a breather. The massive sonic look of the album is first and foremost down to a bluntly cut yet extremely compact production, in places very trend-minded. The genericness of metalized rock music remains the dominant element of Everyday Demons, one whose activity more often than not boils over past all reasonable limits, and in doing so the album too often loses the organic feel that the tireless vocal-instrumental duo of Cormac Neeson/Paul Mahon is striving for.
Right from its opening trio of songs, Everyday Demons builds an interesting model for a fairly simple deployment of basic rock moves, even if their catchy, biting nature gnaws away a good chunk of the most important capital, namely credibility. Demon Eyes stings like a bristling boogie rock on testosterone, right behind it comes Too Far Gone, a distant Black Crowes relative, to put us to the test, slyly mutating even more contemporary rock tricks, while the blending of vintage and new on On And On knowingly sets new standards for modern rock racket. The album’s undisputed favorite! Sinfully good turn out to be the slide-blues rock viper Cry Out, its cousin Why’d You Change Your Mind and the closing stampede of dirty rock, Evil Man. These steer wide of the conventional hard rock framework of most of the album, carving out their own musical turf with a tireless swapping of contrasting moods and dynamic shades that feed the already tense musculature of the album’s torque with a surplus of energy! Unfortunately, as is usual with impatient youngsters, things with our Irish friends aren’t always what they seem at first glance. Everyday Demons would surely stand stronger without Dead Of The Night, which admittedly bravely carries on the trend of delivering high-octane rock & roll but suffers from a lack of substance. Walkin’ Mat continues beefing up the album’s steely character, yet another troublesome minx cut from the Black Crowes cloth, which, galloping alongside Tonight and its soulless recruiting of that signature three-part Thin Lizzy guitar melodicism, sinks ever deeper into the grey of already-heard, predictable rock sawdust. Luckily, Pride and Comfort Zone save us from an identity crisis, setting themselves up as decent ballad softeners of the album’s manly image.
With Everyday Demons, The Answer have wrapped things up pretty decently, rising into one of the main shock troops of modern rock schooling, with their sights at times aimed way back into musical history. It’s worth noting that the Irish crew has an enviable measure of healthy sense for forging their own musical ideas, and ultimately the much-needed boldness to serve them up, which, despite the chronic uninventiveness of modern hard rock, feels alive and energetic. To be honest, the guys are missing some of that contagious mojo that would shield them from the sharp tongues of fans of full-fat, testosterone-fueled rock & roll. Still, The Answer are marching in the right direction, and this spring’s adventure with AC/DC is sure proof of it. Not to mention that, viewed through the prism of the sterility and banal commercialization of today’s music scene, Everyday Demons is a perversion without parallel.
Lineup
Cormac Neeson – vocals
Paul Mahon – guitar
Micky Waters – bass
James Heatley – drums
Production
Tim Palmer & Mike Fraser
Tracklist
1. Demon Eyes
2. Too Far Gone
3. On And On
4. Cry Out
5. Why’d You Change Your Mind
6. Pride
7. Walkin’ Mat
8. Tonight
9. Dead Of The Night
10. Comfort Zone
11. Evil Man
