ROCKSTOP...your source for pop and modern rock CD reviews: THE CLASSIC CRIME

DAVE's TAKE: Well I've been slacking a little bit on posting daily but I promise I will get back into full force starting with another new band that came out earlier this year called The Classic Crime with their CD entitled Albatross. I can't rembere where I found these guys first but I think it was just from browsing through artist on the Tooth and Nail record label. They provide a fresh twist on the current modern rock sound of melodic choruses followed by intense choruses. While not groundbreaking, they make up for it with excellent performances and good variety in the songs presented. Amid a few songs about unrequited love are consistent themes of building hope through relationships and living out convictions fearlessly, as clearly heard in the hard chargin opening track, "The Fight", continues with another great track about finding spiritual rebirth through grace "The Flight of Kings" where he sings "Do you know this songs for you. My heart goes out to the hurt you feel inside" followed my an awesome guitar scale solo. Then we reach one of the slow,soaring,amazing tune "Who Needs Air" about finding hope and peace through faith. The pace quickens again with the fourth track, "Blisters and Coffee", which features many change ups and a cool build up to the verses. The band's second single which really turned me on to the band and which I commented about when I was in Studio at LIVE 105, "The Coldest Heart" is one of the stand out songs on the album. Pretty much a prototype of what an awesome modern rock song sounds like. "All the Memories" has a catchy chorus, and a great build up to the end of the song. "Say the Word" takes a slight turn in sound with the verses but makes up up with a very emotional and passionate chorus where he screams "Are you differnent,can I be different too, nobody knows you like I do." "I Know The Feeling" is one of the only songs that you might consider skipping as it just sounds kind of derivative lyrically and musically. "The Poet" is the song that is most different from the rest with more discordant choppy guitars. Rounding out the album is the slow ballad "Headlights"

John Dukery from www.decapolis.com sums up the album well in this excerpt from his review:

"Lyrically the album has a mostly positive message on how life is changing, but to make sure to live it to the best of your ability; simple, perhaps, but a much needed message in today’s music scene.

Albatross is not here to re-create the wheel or revolutionize its use, but to take an old model and use it well. If a somewhat typical sounding rock based pop punk record with catchy choruses and good vocals sounds good to you, definitely pick this record up"

OVERALL RATING: 7.5/10 (Good modern rock with a lot of variety and very little filler)

SOUNDS LIKE: Anberlin, Third Eye Blind, Fall Out Boy, Jimmy Eat World, Brand New

BAND BIO:
Matt MacDonald – vocals

Justin Duque – guitars

Paul Erickson – drums

Alan Clark – bass

Robbie Negrin – guitars

What is the Classic Crime? History is filled with heroes that made the ultimate sacrifice and martyrs who died for their cause. Whether their actions were viewed as "criminal" in their day was irrelevant. From those fighting against injustice to those who stood up for the folks who don't fit in, dying for one's beliefs or one's art is the Classic Crime.

Fitting, then, that The Classic Crime (the rock band) hails from the Pacific Northwest, a region whose rich artistic history boasts perhaps the biggest rock n' roll martyr: Kurt Cobain. Not to mention the countless other denizens of the area whose music has turned a corner for underground and popular music, from Pearl Jam to Gatsby's American Dream.

"Music has a profound effect on the listener. It even has the power to lift spirits and change lives," reasons singer Matt MacDonald. "If we can see our music change a life for the better, than we've been paid in the kind of way we hope to be." The Classic Crime's new album, "Albatross," threatens to turn such a corner with the sheer expanse of its scope, conjuring the most brilliant moments of Brand New, Thrice and Third Eye Blind while alternately sounding refreshingly original. The vocals are unique, the lyrics are hopeful, and the boys' hearts are all in the right place.

An albatross is one of the most beautiful and complex creatures in the world. It has a wingspan of up to 14 feet, a lifespan of 80 years, and no natural predators. Perhaps best of all, it can travel 20,000 miles in 20 days. "That's what I wanted for this record and for our band," offers MacDonald. "Stats like that." And with their Tooth & Nail debut, they should get them. Beautiful and complex – that would be the band's eclectic mix of melodic rock genres. No natural predators? Well, their songs are unstoppable. And with the touring ahead of them, they'll travel 20,000 miles in no time… Maybe not in 20 days, but you get the point.

The Classic Crime is a new take on an old rock n' roll sound for a generation hungry to be heard. Producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette (Iggy Pop, Chevelle, Cold) helped The Classic Crime shape and hone their already considerably strong material into breath-taking anthems, proving how far they've come since their days as teenage pals.

Justin Duque wasn't one of the "cool" kids in school; never an outcast, but never quite popular. "I knew that high school was a big popularity contest and I never bought into it," he says. What high school did offer Duque was a chance to meet drummer Paul Erickson. "I grew up listening to mostly my dad's music," says Duque, whose father force-fed him a steady diet of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and Jimi Hendrix. On his own, the soon-to-be guitarist discovered Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden and Nirvana, and they changed his life. Duque and Erickson became fast friends and before too long they found themselves playing in a band called Orizon with bass player Alan Clark and singer Matt MacDonald, whose own parents confessed their love for Sabbath and Zeppelin in his teenage years. By the time guitarist Robbie Negrin came onboard, the time felt right to change the name.

The Classic Crime will leave their mark on the musical landscape with "Albatross." Don't worry about the over-saturation of bands out there. This album stands apart. "If we are mentioned in the same breath as the greaet bands of the Pacific Northwest then I think that we'll have done something right," Duque says with modesty. "I just hope to develop long-lasting, loving friendships with new people and see people's lives changed for the positive. And all deeper in love with life." "We have been given a talent to write and play music and it is my hope to give that to other people," adds MacDonald. "[We want] to inspire hope in other people who have dreams, doubts, and struggles. As Dustin from Thrice says, 'Every scar is a bridge to someone's broken heart.' And it is my hope that our scars can help heal hearts."

BEST SONGS: THE FIGHT, FLIGHT OF KINGS, WHO NEEDS AIR, THE COLDEST HEART, THE BITTER UPRISING, HEADLIGHTS

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