Album Review

Broadway Calls – Good Views, Bad News

• 13th Aug 2009

There has always been a fine line between channelling sincere bemusement by expressing natural feral exuberance through music, as opposed to trying to fake it in order to ride on the cash cow of commercial rock. With some modern bands, it’s often difficult to tell exactly which of the above applies to them?

However, for Rainier, Oregon’s Broadway Calls, the question is clearly answered with the first statement. Through the opening double whammy of the percussion patted, frantic and humble tendency revealing, ‘Midnight Hour’ as well as the War policy decrying, New Found Glory mirroring and grinding bass licked, ‘Be All That You Can’t Be’.

Ty Vaughan’s expressive and well pitched vocals highlight the genuine nature of this trio that fully harnesses the crunching bass contribution of Matt Koenig, giving profile to their teenage issue covering. It’s something that the catchy pop rock stomp of ‘Basement Royalty’, bears out well. It gives this 2nd album the down-trodden anthem that will ensure that Broadway Calls’ sound floats around the airwaves for the duration of the summer holidays, at least.

A chugging Green Day lag attaches to ‘To The Sheets’, as the influence of Billy Joe Armstrong seeps through and the percussion profile switches keep you alert and the rhythm ticking over.
A hammering melody touch helps ‘Between The Sheets’, achieve balanced sound. Although, the chorus and lyrics are simple, it reminds you of the pull of simplicity;

“I’m just a kid, with a song in my head your face in my heart. What could be better than this??”

After this youthful spirited show of rumbling exuberance, a slightly murky and reflective mid-tempo tune ‘Give Up The Ghost’, gives Vaughan the chance to give his voice a yearning echo;

“I’m sorry boys this is my final self pity song!”

They emphatically emphasise this statement in the soaring, uplifting stomp of ‘Sundowners’. Careering guitars capture the free spirit of the band and the drilling percussion of Josh Baird keeps some bite in the track. However, in ‘Tonight Is A Live’, more of a drawl is adopted in the vocal approach and a pleading rock stance is taken. The band makes a plea to those in the mood for sombre reflection, to seize the night.

There’s still plenty of time for a bit of morbid reflection and disappointment, ‘Wake Up Call’. Hold on a minute, self pity seems to be seeping in here, yet four songs ago they said they weren’t gonna do that anymore?? They lied to us in-song, don’t you just hate it when they do that?

All in all, Broadway Calls have produced a second album of impetus maintaining high impact tune building, showing glimpses of maturity. Yet the songs do not neglect their youth and the obvious contradictions attached to it. This is an album that will transcend the below voter age demographic, something that some of the more established acts of this ilk have yet to achieve.