Big Collapse
Prototype
Militia Group
For a band that includes former members of hardcore outfits Shift and Burn in their ranks, Big Collapse’s debut for The Militia Group is surprisingly about as straight-forward as rock gets these days.
The skill with which these hardcore veterans play together can’t be denied (the rhythm section is particularly impressive), and it’s fair to say that Prototype is a solid, mature rock album. But unlike their peers in bands like Rival Schools, it just feels a little uninspired, and, well, I hate to say it, but boring.
The album falls squarely into the “pseudo-gritty hard rock” category, and although there’s nothing particularly wrong with this, there’s just nothing spectacular enough about these songs to make them stand out or warrant additional listens. Think of it as a less interesting version of the Juliana Theory or a grittier Foo Fighters release.
Hopefully next time we’ll get to see the band branch out a little more, use more challenging, experimental songwriting techniques, infuse some different sounds and abandon the more formulaic stuff that keeps Big Collapse from breaking that hardcore-band-turned-wisened-rockers stigma…
Big Collapse: http://www.bigcollapse.com/
