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The Forecast
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In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen
Victory Records
Release: 5/30/2006
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Rated:
Review by:
Matthew Nanes
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If there is one band right now that is not getting their due,
it's The Forecast. Stuck in the middle of Hot Topic-core,
Hawthorne Heights and their clones at Victory Records, I fail
to see The Forecast getting as much attention. And that's too
bad. The Forecast is an exception pop/rock with no
gimmicks. Just a band of humble musicians and an new
album full of solid songs.
Melding the sounds of late 90s, early 2000 Midwestern emo
(The Promise Ring, Braid, The Get Up Kids) and the
alt-country of Limbeck, The Forecast's In The Shadow
Of Two Gunmen has an awkward time trying to meld
those two styles together. If anything, it sounds like if The
Get Up Kids stayed on the Something To Write Home
About side while going towards their alt-county sound
just a little bit on On A Wire.
The polarizing sounds occur two songs into the record. The
first song, "Everything We Want To Be" is a fist pumping,
open chord ruckus that you'd probably hear at a bar,
complete with single note piano tinkling away. The sound
completely changes by the next track, the anthemic and
down right modern classic "And We All Return To Our Roots."
The song perfectly sets the stage of the album's theme of
relationships and living life without being home with lyrics
like:
"You need a raise/you haven't slept in how
many days?/The feelings creeping up that you're never
going to win/You have to remember we are rising/All I want
is a little place of my own where I can rest my
head"
The album peaks with the ballad "Some Things Never
Change," which is closest The Forecast gets to melding
twangy guitars with emo songwriting. The song is the best
example of the effectiveness of the vocals of bassist
Shannon Burns and guitarist Dustin Addis. Their harmonies
definitely make The Forecast distinguishable from the rest of
the pack. Even in the Hot Water Music inspired rocker "A
Fistfight For Our Fathers," it's just as effective.
You'd be cheating yourself if you liked late 90s Midwestern
emo and didn't check The Forecast out. It's hard to get
noticed by your label when your label doesn't spend as much
effort on you just as much as the next makeup wearing
band, but The Forecast has the songwriting chops and the
heart to make them worth noticing. |
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