This project, which has apparently been on the back-burner for awhile, is the self-produced work of Steve Curtsinger and Jerry McBroom (both formerly of Bride). Definitely a departure from Bride, this 10-song disc has a nice aggressive feel to its decidedly hard alternative sound. Rapid fire distorted guitars sometimes slam the brakes to float into some dreamy vocals. While the overall production misses a little bit of headroom (I can't seem to turn it up loud enough), the pieces of the puzzle are very good. I really like the guitar tones and vocals. For a musical reference, think hyper Grammatrain or Alice in Chains covering Audio Adrenaline songs without the limitations of a "Nashville sound" to cater to. Lyrically, the band writes with a staccato delivery in mind, making it seem like the songwriter was drinking a lot of coffee while penning these tunes. Introspective, yet full of nervous energy and decidedly dark. While not of the billboard variety, it is obvious upon close inspection that these songs either cry out to the Lord or are prayers to Him for change.
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Josh SpencerSteve Curtsinger and Jerry McBroom both left hard rock outfit Bride to do this groove/grunge project. They came up with a low budget mix of Stone Temple Pilots and Nirvana-influenced grunge, with some generic hardcore and groove rock thrown in. It's not pretty. And it might be hard to pull in fans of the genre, who are used to all the rich tones and perfectly angst-ridden vocals of the dozens of…
