How Cool Is THAT?!?!

I know I promised a review of the new Angels & Airwaves album, but this came across my desk just now and it's too cool to pass up. It's always awesome when I get messages from people regarding what I put here, and it's even awesomer (yes, I just made up a word) when those who message me are in the music business. I just got a message on my MySpace from Sarah at Wind-Up Records. She came across this very blog and saw that I had recently purchased Consequence, the debut album from The Crash Motive that I've raved about here and here. She asked if I could put a plug in for something, and being a fan of the music, I jumped at the chance. So here goes.




The image is pretty self-explanatory; make an iMix on iTunes containing at least one Crash Motive song and if the band likes it enough, you can win prizes ranging from signed CDs to an autographed Fender Squier guitar. I posted about this awhile back, but I already submitted an iMix called "GET AMPED" which can be found here.

Now, before I go on with a review of Consequence, I want it noted that neither Wind-Up nor The Crash Motive have promised me any compensation of any kind for what you read in this entry. The words and opinions are purely my own.

I've been waiting for a CD by The Crash Motive since their early days, back when they were known as Omnisoul, and just a bunch of college students fresh out of the University of Delaware. I heard "Waiting (Save Your Life)" on the Fantastic 4 OST, and fell in love with it almost immediately. Since then, I heard the singles they dropped to iTunes, got excited when I heard they got signed, and kept playing the three songs I knew.

Fast forward; it's 2007, and Omnisoul changes their name to The Crash Motive, and out comes Consequence. Without a second thought I get the album (legally, mind you, an increasingly rare event). My biggest fear was that the album would be a typical debut album, with "Not Giving Up" and "Waiting (Save Your Life)" at the front of the album, and weaker, less enjoyable tracks filling up the remaining 10 songs. It's true that nothing on the album matches the one-two-three punch of "Not Giving Up", "No Tomorrow, Just Tonight" and "Waiting", but everything else on this album is quality stuff. These days heavy production and a clean sound is usually used to mask a band's lack of talent, but not so on Consequence. Everything sounds clean and polished, even moreso than some of the most shameless radio rock. But underneath the layer of production, there's still rock going on, as evidenced by "Things That Could Be Said" and the bouncy drum lick behind "Not Giving Up".

If you want to find fault with Consequence, then find it in their occasional lack of originality. Lead singer Derek Fuhrmann is a solid frontman, but there were times on the album that I couldn't be sure if I was just listening to Maroon 5 demos, and after awhile the songs can potentially blend into one mass, with not much variety. But it doesn't take much to snap out of it and realize that The Crash Motive are (or at least should be) legit, and their music a breath of fresh air.

The guys in The Crash Motive are what we all secretly hope for in rock music. Beneath the shiny top layer, there's a rock band under there, the kind of band that I can envision practicing in their parent's basement or in an empty garage. And now they've got a CD out and are on TV, in movies, and on their way to chasing that age-old rockstar dream. Let's hope they don't crash before they get there.

Ruling on the Field: 7.5/10
Highlight Reel: I've posted an mp3 of "Not Giving Up" twice now. If you haven't gotten it yet, you have no excuse, go find it. Note to Wind-Up; if you want said mp3s taken down, let me know and I will oblige.

I'll be back again this weekend, and be sure to check out the iMix contest as well as my submission!

==TJ==