The Life and Times - The Flat End of the Earth EP
(54 40 or Fight)
The Life and Times is the new project of former Shiner frontman Allen Epley, and their debut release is an EP, The Flat End of the Earth. The first song on this EP is a grunge-style stoner-rehash rock song in the vein of Temple of the Dog's "Hunger Strike." While its clearly the most college radio-friendly song, it's also as terrible as the comparison implies. The rest of the EP somewhat makes up for these inauspicious beginnings; however, essentially there's a fine line between Temple of the Dog and Chavez, and perhaps The Life and Times falls on the bad side too often. "Movies and Books" showcases the band falling on the (awesome) Chavez side. The song starts off with a strong, punching bass hum and doesn't let up. The song follows a fairly unnatural structure, switching into the chorus abruptly at an odd time, and then switching back just as abruptly. If you listen to the EP enough, this song really stands out, and its odd structure changes from something abnormal to something really memorable. "Houdini" is also pretty good as the main guitarline creates this weird off-kilter but still rockin' progression. "High Scores," however, falls into the same sort of made-for-stadium grunge rock as the leadoff track. Similarly, the EP ends with the title track which sounds like something Soundgarden would play right before they left the stage. Unlike the rest of the songs, it is slower and more brooding and has few vocals, drawing out the song so that the dudes in the audience can scream out one last "Woo" before Chris Cornell goes backstage to bang their dates. The Life and Times is a fairly new band (Shiner evidently broke up less than a year ago), so I guess time will tell whether or not they can develop on the signs of life they show on this EP. This EP, however, brings back too many memories of painful experiences with bad music (like that time Chris Cornell banged my date).
|
