Daily Staff Writer

“Mach Five”

Mach Five

The debut album from Mach Five is a pretty fast mover, but it doesn’t break the sound barrier like the band’s name implies.

It starts out strong with a looping throb of guitar and a lot of awesome playing. Unfortunately, the boring repetitive chorus puts an end to the fury.

“You’re My Religion” has a Beatles-gone-alternative sound as the group pelts out vocal harmonies with an all-over-happy aura about it.

“This and Back Again” thrives because new sounds are always catching your ear and pulling you in.

The music is great, but suffers because of lead singer Jeff Darien, who blatantly imitates Noel Gallagher.

Darien’s Gallagher complex really shines through in the Oasis wanna-be power-ballad “I’m Alive.” This band is obviously heavily influenced by a weak English music scene.

Perhaps the best song on the album is “Space Mantra.” It starts out with a hip, hit and pull drumloop (think Ashley MacIsaac) before taking off on a flight bombarded with zooms and zings of sounds.

The chorus “vibrations of heroes, vibrations of villains collide” is more than catchy, it’s a lethal virus.

This band would be awesome if it dropped the pansy-sounding lead singer and got someone with a voice made for heavy metal. Other than that, the pilots of Mach Five are off to a good start.

2 1/2 stars out of five

— Kevin Hosbond

“Sunburn”

Fuel

“Sunburn” is a good representation of Fuel’s ability to rock hard and not sound commercialized, an ability which has earned the group fans nationwide.

The CD starts out with a thundering rockslide of guitars before crashing into a reeling melody that contrasts the bombardment.

The first single off the album, “Shimmer,” is a calm song sung with an emotionally tormented voice.

It begins with a soft violin and a guitar riding out of a soothing melody. Suddenly, there is a mad dash for the finish line as the rest of the band jumps into the race to chase the hooky chorus, “I have found all that shimmers in this world is sure to fade.”

“Jesus or a Gun” is a song about the drags of everyday life and the inevitable consequences people turn to. The chorus says it best with, “but tell me now, who’s my saving one, Jesus or a gun?”

Fuel hits again with the muscular, engine-revving dragster “New Thing.” It’s all-out guitar rage and screaming.

The group is also perfectly capable of leaning toward a more heavy metal sound with songs like “Mary Pretends” and “Ozone.”

These are both dynamite rock anthems and kick-in-the-ass, get-your-head-banging kind of songs.

Mesmerizing solos by lead guitarist/songwriter Carl Bell rank him right up there with Megadeth’s Marty Friedman.

In the silent space before the last song, you can hear your heart pounding from the two scorchers that just went by, but “Hideaway” will calm your nerves and bring you back to reality. Not that you’re necessarily ready to come back.

4 stars out of five

— Kevin Hosbond

“Last Grand Experiment”

Boy Genius

Boy Genius is a fast, funny, little post-punk band, and its new CD, “Last Grand Experiment,” is filled with a handful of pithy tunes, most of which contain a blitzkrieg backbeat that sounds like tommy guns.

This is pretty typical new age punk stuff and, surprisingly enough, it is pretty good.

The opening track, “I Care (At Least For A While),” is a good introductory volley that pounds against your eardrums like little devils trying to get inside of your head.

Judging by this CD, apathy must be the new replacement for “undying love” songs and cheesy power ballads.

One day, in retrospect, it will look lame. But for now, not really caring is cool, and this song is pretty good, I guess.

But on the other hand, “My Girlfriend’s In Love (With Superdrag)” is pretty annoying. It seemed to go on longer than the last episode of “Seinfeld.”

The best track on the album has to be “Metal.” It had a great beat, and you could really dance to it, Dick!

I might actually download it to another medium where it can shine unfettered by the other tracks. It also contains the best lyrical hook on the album.

Other tracks of note are “The Words Escape Me Now,” “Long Way Down,” “New Conviction” and “Man of Honor,” which all feature fairly catchy rhythms

But this CD is best if you want to listen to something fast paced that doesn’t have much substance to stimulate an intellectual mind.

3 stars out of five

— Greg Jerrett