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It’s not uncommon these days to hear a story about how musicians, disillusioned by their local music scenes, will find themselves in Austin looking for something more. That’s exactly what happened Language Room’s front man, Todd Sapio. Not long after having made the transition from the City of Angels to the Lone Star State, Sapio bumped into his old friend Scott Graham (lead guitarist) during SXSW 2007. They began working on music together and were soon joined by Graham’s brother Matt (bassist) and Caleb Kelly (drums), thus completing the line-up of Language Room.
Now, I’m not going to lie; after reading that Blue October’s bassist Matt Noveskey served as the producer for Language Room’s debut album, I immediately became skeptical. This has more to do with my extreme disdain for the band Blue October and less to do with Noveskey’s producing skills. However, in a bid to not let my preconceived notions get the best of me, I tried to listen to this album with an impartial ear.
One by One starts off strong with “In Lines,” filled with fast-paced guitars synced with Sapio’s crooning. The following track reminds me how nice it is to hear alternative rock bands dabble in different instruments; “Run Out of Road” has a various amount of horns smattered throughout the song, blending in rather well with the guitar riffs. Towards the end of the album, “Waiting It Out” also incorporates the use of brass instruments. By far the best showcase of the band’s grit and talent resides in the track “Keep Your Goodbyes.” The ballad-esque songs on the album, like “Still Need You” and “Love Him” only serve as the album’s biggest weak points. It’s good for a band to show their versatility but somehow, these tracks only seem to work against the band. The latter of the two is how Language Room chose to close their album, leaving me a little disappointed.
Overall, One By One is a solid, polished alt-rock debut. Language Room definitely has a great deal of potential, but it seems they might take the path more commonly traveled towards a more generic sound in order to become successful rather than carve out their own distinguishable space in their genre.
Websites:
www.languageroom.net
Myspace
Yes, because if there’s one thing we all need, its more generic alt-rock.
I suppose if they can’t really pull off ‘creative’, then you may be right, but its still sort of a sad statement. Guess I’ll listen to a song or two and see if fits of revulsion strike.