EVOLOCITY – Evolocity

Evolocity are five young guys from Phoenix, Arizona, who take their mouth mighty full. The band info promises nothing less than the next big thing, a new style, and a band that is going to be legend soon because they are a “step forward in the evolution of Hard Rock and Alternative.” Sometimes it is just better not to know anything and let the music do the talking. Because this may not be the million seller yet – but it is still very entertaining.

The five boys, who are very American looking on the back cover, as if wanting to fulfill all clichés at once, take a fresh approach to music in general, something which should not be looked upon or taken lightly, because there are already more Manowar, Motörhead, or Metallica soundalikes than one needs. And, Evolocity definitely is not one of them, although they are not totally original at the same time. How that can be? Simple: Every track sounds different and keeps the interest in the album up. You can already get a hint when you read the list of instruments used: Among the common stuff there also is a Saxophone, and pennywhistle, turntables, and lots of percussion mentioned.

Each single track in itself is rooted deeply in Alternative, Pop, Grunge, and even sometimes Metal … with different ingredients. Hard Rock builds the basic backbone, on which Evolocity experiment with sounds from bands they all seem to like. What first comes to mind is a mixture of Hard Rock of Skid Row, Skin, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, the latter especially on “Herbie (Doesn’t Like To Make Toys)“ and the frequent, little Funky interludes. But, on top of that they steal the bass sound from Primus in “Natural Drag,“ which is also spiced with interesting tribal percussions and has a very Jazzy middle part, and in “Dark.“ Or, they sound a lot like Iggy Pop in “Duh Wayne“ (side note: this song’s beginning theme reminds a lot of “One Meat Ball“ from Europe-based, Texas-born Country artist Calvin Russell … strange). And when you least expect it, they introduce the turntables and recall thoughts of Funk Metal legend Mordred, or Mother’s Finest, in “Cockeyed“ and “Crutch.“ Only two songs have later NuMetal influences many love from Engine and a certain Dead Soul Tribe intonation meet in “Set You Free,“ which sounds like mid 90’s Swedish Rock act Screamin’ Mother. The same is true for “Dog Lover,“ while one more song has to be mentioned — “Pyramids.“ Don’t let the whatever-kians, -dijans and other-ians guys from System Of A Down hear this – because they did not get credits for this lost remnant from the Mesmerize sessions …

The only thing all tracks have in common is the great voice of Aaron Ingham, who is probably one of the best new singers and exhibits the perfect blend between melody and Punk attitude. Overall, while they did not meet the expectations the band info raises, but then again, the CD comes without band info, so one may as well buy it and enjoy several tracks -– though due to the variety, it may be that one will not like every track of Evolocity.