Cruiserweight - Rocks The Moon [EP]

Doghouse Records

June 18, 2008, 06:55 PM

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Well I know good quality Pop-Punk when I hear it, and this 3 track E.P. is a crackin’ example of it. I’ll be honest, when I saw this was yet another female fronted band, I thought that it would be the same old, same old. I was quite relieved not have to bring Paramore into this.

The first song ‘Balboa’ is a fast catchy tune, with great backing vocals and guitar riffs. The backing vocals in this song are, to say the least, brilliant. As I listen to this band more and more, I can’t help but compare them to ‘Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer’.
I do like the fact that they based the lyrics of this track on the new Rocky Balboa film, not just named the song ‘Balboa’ for the sake of it. I’m not a fan of the Rocky films, but the lyrics in this song really do tell the story, they make it easy to understand without overcomplicating things. The use of one metaphor really caught my ear, the line; ‘you brought a fire and smoked me out of my cave’. As a musician and somewhat of a songwriter that line is one of those lines that you wish you had written yourself!

The second song ‘Sustainer’ is what I would call, a crowd anthem. You know, the lighters out, waving hands etc. The mellow guitar at the start really defines the song from the very beginning. After this however, you can tell what’s coming next, in most cases that’s a bad thing, as it shows predictability. Listen to the rest of the song and I’ll guarantee you that you will be rocking back and forth in your chair. I think it’s the nature of the song that makes you like it, taking into account the key of the song, the ‘happy’ sound it has just makes you want to smile and sing along. I personally think that this song isn’t as good as ‘Balboa’, but it’s not a song to take lightly either. One thing I will say about this song, which I’m not too keen on, is the lyrics. I’m not relating to anything within them. The chorus lyrics don’t make that much sense to me. Maybe they have more meaning and I can’t see it, but from this listener’s point of view, they could have done better lyrically with this track.

It’s not that often that you hear a decent cover on a band’s EP. However, this cover of Tom Petty’s ‘American Girl’ breathed new life into the original and classic track. I especially liked that they kept the main structure of the song similar and didn’t change it too much. I think I will be bold here by saying that this cover version is better than the original! Tom Petty fans are now going to hunt me down and hang me, but, for fans of pop-punk, you will love this. I did. The band kept the same guitar solo, which is always a good sign of musicianship. By that I mean not listening to the original solo and thinking that you are such an amazing guitarist that you can come up with something better, which with all credit these guys didn’t do. I have a lot of respect for them covering such a classic song that not many of the young audience they target their music towards will know. I do find it a bit strange when a female singer sings a song about a girl, but I’m gonna let that drop in this case, as it’s a cover, and it wouldn’t have the same ring to it if it were called ‘American Boy’.

As a whole I think this EP is top notch. I would recommend Cruiserweight to anyone who likes Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer and Blink 182. In fact I will be recommending this band to everyone! This EP will be on my playlist for weeks to come, ‘Balboa’ will be on my playlist for longer, as it’s without a doubt the best song on the CD.

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