The Fate Lions “Good Enough For You”
The Fate Lions are a musical quartet lead by singer/songwriter Jason Manriquez. The band has a low key indie pop sound that recalls early REM and The Lemonheads, as well as that sleepy Beta Band vibe. Opening up with a fade-in on “Seen It All” is a good start with a catchy rhythm guitar riff that builds to a multi-tracked chorus. The rumbling “Astronaut” is a solid tune that reminds me of Cracker’s “Teen Angst” quite a bit. The 80 and 90’s styled shine is all over the album and there is no denying the bands melodic storytelling ability on “Calendar Girls.” It would help a little if Jason’s vocal was a bit more forceful, but another highlight is the bouncy “Starsign.” The albums theme is a bit melancholy, but the beat never slows to a crawl. Even when a song loses it’s way, like on “The Queen Himself” – the instrumental solos are so good, it keeps things compelling. The lush arrangements keep you hooked all the way through the album, as there isn’t any filler here. The North Texas sound permeates the songs pretty strongly on the albums second half, especially on “Ride The Artifact”. So is it “Good Enough For You?” — if you’re not too demanding here, it definitely is.
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Kram “Mix Tape”
Mark Maher of the Australian band Spiderbait, has gone solo under the name of Kram. I heard the impressive single “Silk Suits” and thought this was the second coming of Jet or Rob Zombie. Unfortunately, it was a perfect case for bait and switch in pop music. It turns out “Mix Tape” is a mix of different songs, using different genres of music. So there is a fast rock song, a slow soul tune, a blues jam, etc. Kram’s vocals are perfect for a balls-out rockers like “Good Love” and “Silk Suits.” The other genres don’t fair as well, but few other tracks like “She’s My Girl” and “Long Cold Night” are merely good. The songwriting style on the rest of the album is painfully mediocre, so naturally here I would cherry pick the above mentioned tracks if it gets over to iTunes at some future point. That said – “Good Love” and “Silk Suits” are awesome riff heavy ear candy!
