|
TRAPT
Imitation is inevitable in the music business. One band hits, and without fail, a few months later, there's a dozen more acts signed to major labels that sound pretty much indistiguishable from one another. Such is the case with California's TRAPT. While their songs are hooky as hell, and guaranteed to land on MTV and rock radio for a nice stretch, it's nothing you haven't heard already in the form of LINKIN PARK, TAPROOT, or HOOBASTANK.
Produced by Garth Richardson, who has handled production duties for RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and NICKELBACK, songs like "Headstrong" are guaranteed to get teenage fists pumping in fury...at least until the next band who sounds just like them gets a record deal.
Look, I'm not bashing them. I like the record, and the songs are catchy; I'm just saying that you could stick "Headstrong", "Still Frame" or "Echo" in the hands of a band like TAPROOT, and it would sound exactly the same. The same growling, the same chunky guitars, and the same explosive percussion would sound just as brutal coming from these guys as it would coming from any number of up-and-comers who are being produced to sound just like one another...in the effort to maximize record sales.
I am happy to see that while the lyrics are hummable and melodic, they're also intelligently written. It's nice to see a group of guys putting together a product that isn't preying totally on the ignorance of the audience.
TRAPT would make an excellent addition to any workout CD or mix tape you were planning on using to evade the cops...that is, if you're into that kind of thing.
Ammendment to Review:
Alright, it's about three days or so since I initially wrote this, and I have to admit this disc is growing on me. I don't think these guys are exact replicas of LINKIN PARK, TAPROOT, or HOOBASTANK...I DO, however, think there are production elements similar to those bands' records present in the Trapt record...and that's what threw me. Also, the chorus to "Headstrong", while very catchy, is reminiscient of the JIMMY EAT WORLD single, "Bleed American"...at least I think so...and I'm not even drunk. Yet.
|
