the boxer rebellion - exits
the accompanying press release quotes richard ashcroft at the very top. this is apt. very very apt. prior to the verves descent into m.o.r hell they were a breathtaking assault on guitars and groovesome bass lines, and so have unknowingly provided the boxer rebellion with a worthy blueprint for their long awaited debut album. starting the proceedings with a mess of feedback and guitar noise all bets are off, this album is going to hit the senses in a large way indeed. over the course of the next 40 minutes we get exposed to a whole range of modern cinematic guitar rock bands styles .. all with a certain stamp that makes the boxers slightly more interesting than their obvious influences.
so, we get the quiet-n-moody radiohead epics in the shape of 'world without end', and 'lay me down', the heart stopping aural assault of the opening double hitters 'flight' and 'all you do is talk' (very much in line with early verve releases), the muse styled 'never knowing how or why'. as well as touches of missing in action cooper temple clause from time to time. the one drawback are the vocals, which can be a little atypical and nondescript here and there, but as these are more than often buried in the glorious wall of sound the focus of the songs shifts the listeners attention elsewhere, (after all we have a glut of emotionally strung out indie lead singers at the moment so i suspect that this works in the bands favour). the production by chris sheldon (foo fighters) shines where it needs to, and lays down the dirt whenever necessary. this means that the album locates itself in a perfect space between fm sanctioned clarity and garage based guttural noise in equal measures.
the 10 songs are strong, direct, and impressive. repeated listening reveals that there are several chill up the spine moments, something i cant say about too many of the current guitar lead bands that i've heard.