Milwaukee has been a hub for rock music
for many decades, a popular stop for major and minor touring acts, and remains
a bastion for the form in uncertain times. The latest exponent of the city’s
rock community, a four piece outfit named RedBelt, has debuted with a thirteen
song collection entitled Beautiful Surround. The band has an obvious propensity
for melodic punk rock, but they don’t restrict themselves to pursuing one
avenue exclusively. Instead, they adeptly blend the punk rock influences in
their music with generous portions of classic rock, pop melodies, and three
part vocal harmonies that often raise the songs up a whole other notch. The
album has few points that can referred to as a manifestation of pure punk rock
– Mike Mann’s lead guitar work is clearly too sophisticated for such labels –
but it makes excellent use of the genre.
“Crossed Wires” perfectly illustrates
that last point. The track is a romping musical thrill ride, but there’s
moments scattered throughout the track when Mann’s lead guitar bursts from the
mix and forces the track to take on a distinctly different tenor. The punk
influences recede on the second track, “American Mercy”, in favor of a more
singer/songwriter sensibility. This isn’t some sensitive, aching examination of
American life, however; there’s just a little more lyrical depth here and a
more carefully phrased vocal compared to the first track. “Shoot It All the
Time” is much more an out and out classic rock tune. The presence of rhythm
guitarist Kevin Brown’s acoustic running through deep in the mix combined with
Mann’s fiery slide guitar makes this stand out from a crowded pack of excellent
songs.
It pairs nicely with the title song.
The segue from such a resolutely classic rock themed number into a more
detailed, layered alternative rock inspired title song. Brown adjusts his vocal
accordingly and shows much more of an ear for slowly developing melodies for
voice that enriches this song immeasurably. “Sweet Release”, however, doesn’t
care for developing anything slowly or patiently. This is one of the purest
shots of tough-minded punk rock on the album and has an almost claustrophobic
level of intensity. “Cold” finds them shifting gears again. It retains the same
wide-eyed enthusiasm of the earlier song, but the guitars are turned to work in
a much more pop-oriented direction and empathizes melody over power. The vocal
melody is particularly catchy.
“Throw Away” joins “Sweet Release” as
one of the album’s hardest hitting punk cuts. There’s much more art here,
however, than attitude and Brown’s vocal far outstrips his efforts on the
aforementioned earlier track. The concluding number on Beautiful Surround,
“Hard Light”, is a stylistic turn that no one will expect. The guitar work is
much more restrained here and, instead, RedBelt relies much more on their
talented rhythm section to carry the musical day. It affixes an exclamation
point to the end of Beautiful Surround; perhaps not one that the listener
expects, but it’s nonetheless quite an effective ending.
9 out of 10 stars
David Shouse
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