Altsounds - Sorry and the Sinatras - Highball Roller [Album]

Sorry and the Sinatras, “specialise in high octane kick ass punk rock……high on flare, punishing, driving riffs and spit ‘n’ sawdust professionalism”…..this blurb straight from Sorry and the Sinatras self promotion tools on www.myspace.com/sorryandthesinatras.

With such a blatant, elevated sense of self worth, it came as no real surprise that the album was a complete let down, a damp squib, and certainly no hair-raising rollercoaster ride. Kerrang even have the nerve to call Sorry and the Sinatras' album 'High Roller' a “12 track bar brawl, dripping with attitude……”. I must admit that after listening I felt a little bruised, but not in a good way.

Sorry and the Sinatras hail from the United States of America, Philidelphia, to be exact. Now it must be said the Philly has quite a musical pedigree, as does most of the east coast of America, but as rock bands go, Sorry and the Sinatras cannot be placed in amongst the greats.

'Highball Roller' was “recorded over 10 days in the summer of 2008”. It shows. Anyone familiar with the recording process knows that it can be an exhausting time, but in any-ones books, 12 songs in 10 days is quite a stretch. The production qualities are bound to suffer under the strain of such a cramped workload.

Throughout 'Highball Roller' the vocals, which are shouted through each and every track, are almost drowned out by rolling, heavy double-kicked drums, and big, grungy, edgy and distorted lead guitars. To be honest, on most songs, it is very hard to make out what the lead singer is singing about, let alone what words he is using. Perhaps, I am missing the point, but I don’t think I am.

The songs on 'Highball Roller' are nothing new. There is no production wizardry, no amazing call and response guitar pieces, no haunting melodies that urge you to listen more closely. There is not even a catchy chorus. The album consists of 12 songs that are very, very standard American rock fare, with a hint of country music in there for good measure.

In fairness I cant criticise this whole review, as much as I would like too. All the songs on 'Highball Roller' carry a large amount of energy; the instrument playing is proficient and all the songs melt into each other quite well (they do all sound similar though). There are a couple of nice drum grooves, especially on Track Four “Riverside” and Track Eight “Junkie”. There are also a couple of nice feedback distortion effects that raise the bar a little, although again, nothing new, on Track Five “Borrowed Time”.

It is left till the last Track, “She’s so Vaudeville” that we hear a side of Sorry and the Sinatras that is mildy interesting. The distorted guitar feedback effects are coupled with building drums and an effected voice to give Sorry and the Sinatras a wholly progressive feel. It is sad that this was left to last, but perhaps this is a small sign of how Sorry and the Sinatras will move forward in the future.

I hope so, as the rest of the album was sorry indeed.