What do '80s hard rock musicians do when their style of music becomes obsolete? They play heavy grunge, of course. Kyle Dietz (drums, ex-Seraiah), Bob Gross (vocals, ex-Xalt), and Quinton Gibson (guitars, ex-Whitecross) make up three-fourths of Stir, and the band's actually pretty decent.
The flavor of grunge they've taken on is that of Stone Temple Pilots' Core--big smeary riffs, big beefy tones, big deep-voice choruses, big grooves. Of course, some of that '80s hard rock sound echoes faintly underneath it all, noticeably in some of the gang choruses and swaggering style, the straightforward lyrics, and the ballad-type songs. But it's not as obvious as it was with The Bleed (a similar attempt by '80s hard rockers several years ago to do alternative/grunge). Stir has a good, solid sound and a surprising amount of helpful studio effects (echoes, etc.) for an indie.
The songs reveal a group of guys who've been Christians for a while, and who've dealt with many of the struggles of the faith. They sing against being legalistic, judgmental, and hypocritical, while encouraging believers in plain language to continue looking up and moving toward eternity with Christ. Interestingly, the last two tracks of Broken Tongues are Spanish versions of earlier songs.
The catchy hooks and riffs are strongest in the first half of the album, and will undoubtedly win over fans of Nailed, recent Bride, Creed, early Stone Temple Pilots, and maybe even unpicky fans of Alice in Chains. Those old-timers still longing for the return of hard rock but who are able to stand a little modern noise might even be able to dig into these rockers.
Other coverage for this album
7ball #23Reviewed by Chris WellWith guitar sledgehammers and lyrical rivets, the band Stir has built a monument to man's insufficiency. It's a sort of antithesis to the Tower of Babel; while the former was intended to show the unity of man but led to the language barriers, Broken Tongues is a testament that our human words and deeds will always be incomplete without the restoring power of God. Although they wrap their hard…HM Magazine #75Reviewed by Doug Van PeltGrunge is happenin', baby! If you like low tunage and dirty but full guitars a la The Bleed and Promise Man-era Holy Soldier, you've found a new disc to spin. Michael Wagener did a good job of coaxing the right sounds from these guys. I'm quite attracted to this disc, with its soulful vocals and heavy riffs. The vocals sound uncannily similar to Eric Wayne's on the Promise Man album - especially…Similar sounding releases
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