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Name Taken
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Hold On
Fiddler Records
Release: 4/13/2004
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Rated:
Review by:
Matthew Nanes
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From Orange County, California's Name Taken have the
unfortunate privilege of being lumped into a new slew of
emo-rock bands taking their cues from Taking Back Sunday
and The Early November. So what makes them any different
than the rest of the bands? Not much, but on their first full-
length album, Hold On, they have a collection
of catchy pop-rock songs that would make Warped Tour fans
swoon.
Starting the album off is "Control." You will take notice this
band has a lot of prowess in their attack, but once
bassist/vocalist Chad Atkinson's voice takes over, you
quickly figure out it's the band's Achilles' heel. If Atkinson's
voice stays in a lower pitch, you find he sings superb
melodies, which is the band's best quality. If it wasn't for
that, the songs wouldn't be memorable. In those senses, he
is much like Thursday vocalist Geoff Rickly, where you find
yourself cringing at the sound of his voice, but still wanting
to sing along.
For the most part, Name Taken does a great job at writing a
good memorable song. "A Year Spent Cold" would be a good
selection for a single. With a perfect bridge leading to a
driving, Hey Mercedes-esque chorus, this song could not get
any catchier. The band loses steam when they turn down the
gain and slow down the tempo as on "Panic," where in the
beginning of the song they lose what makes them special,
being a high energy rock band.
The production on Hold On is superb. Produced,
mixed and engineered by Beau Birchell (The Bled, The
Bronx, Saosin), the bass growls, giving the music a well
needed girth. The guitars are like chainsaws grinding in your
ears. These qualities give a boost to the music, where it
might've sounded weak with anyone else overseeing the
knobs.
Name Taken's Hold On isn't doing anything that
hasn't been done before, but they're doing an exceptional
job playing this genre of music. Where a lot of bands in this
saturated genre fail is making themselves memorable. Name
Taken writes catchy enough music and has a distinctive (for
better or for worse) voice leading them to carve out a niche
for themselves. This record has strong enough songwriting
for it to stand on its own. |
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