Review: Alexander the Great’s Faces Change
by Jarret Green ~ July 1st, 2009. Filed under: Music, Review.
One should hesitate to call any band “retro” with the pejoration that the already-loaded word has suffered in the last decade plus. But Alexander the Great is a refreshingly not-fresh band. On Faces Change, their debut, the band crafts what can simply be called great rock music.
It’s hard to find parity in any of the current dozens of buzz bands (Maybe Japandroids; more on that in a bit). The underappreciated Blackback comes to mind, but this comparison proves more spiritual than sonic to the experienced ear. In both cases, the last ten years are whisked away into some black hole that looks eerily like an American Apparel ad walked into a nightclub.
Alexander the Great are also difficult to categorize, other than the slightly-less-helpful-than-saying-“music” indie rock moniker. Suffice to say, fans of Built to Spill, Jets to Brazil, The Promise Ring, Land of Talk, and probably anything in the accessible vicinity will find much to like here.
Alexander the Great are sincere. In lyric (Let’s avoid that E word, too.), the trio of vocalists is verbose, but not overwhelming. The vocals are usually a couple layers down in the mix, coming to the surface only when they slow to a crawl. This is where an “as Japandroids are to Mission of Burma” analogy breaks down. Clever, ironic wordplay is nowhere to be found on Faces Change.
Instrumentally, each track exhales the joy this crew must get from playing their instruments. There’s a little math, lots of sick riffs, a dash of dusty country, and even some Elephant 6-style horns. But above all, Faces Change is energetic, not in the 3-chords-for-3-minutes way, but in an enthusiasm that probably drips down their guitar strings and drum sticks. “Cold Feet” and “Tree of Knowledge,” two of the highlights on a fairly well-balanced album, especially deserve the adjective.
On “Late Night Rockits,” the album’s acoustic ballad, the picking supports, but rises in might with, the deceptively warm bar-room affectations of the narrative. The last few tracks of the album trail off into mellow territory. If there’s anything bad to be said about Alexander the Great, it’s that they’re not overly creative in their play-order selection. At the end – spoiler warning – “Jetsetting Jet” explodes halfway through. It must work perfectly as their show closer.
If Faces Change is any indication, Alexander the Great must be a fantastic live act, and they’re pretty impressive in the studio, too.