American Classic – Life Is Motion
Record Label: Unsigned
Release Date: February 5, 2010
The New Jersey music scene is near legendary, producing greats from the likes of Bruce Springsteen to Saves The Day, Midtown and The Early November. It’s hard to think of what music would look like today without the extremely productive Jersey scene. In recent years, though the Jersey scene doesn’t have many bands as notable as those mentioned, it is still extremely active, and still chock full of talent (even though the emergence of Jersey’s most recent scene superstars, Cash Cash, might suggest otherwise). If Life Is Motion is any indication, American Classic is one of the most talented acts of the Jersey scene. With great musicianship and strong pop sensibilities, the band sounds like a Paramore with male vocals.
The EP starts off with “Mistakes,” a toe tapping, upbeat tune with excellent guitar work and the strong voice of Chris Santos. “Age Of Reason” follows with a beautifully discordant opening, and dark, angst-ridden, poignant lyrics that are sure to strike a chord with listeners (“I tried to live by your principles/ but it felt like I was only taking orders”). The EP continues its winning streak with the slowed-down “As Mine.” While many bands tend to falter on slower songs, American Classic continues to shine, offering a pleasant, albeit slightly generic, mid-tempo tune. “Tell Me: What Are You Proud Of” follows “As Mine,” but starts off on the wrong foot. However, the great drumming and infectious melodies quickly help the song recover, allowing the repetitions of “Don’t try to be somebody else/You’ll only let yourself down/Don’t try to change to fit in the crowd/ You’ll find out you’ll only let them down” to be stuck in the listeners head. Unfortunately, the EP ends with “The Charlatan,” an less-than-stellar track that fails to reach the level of the other songs.
Overall, this is a very strong effort from American Classic. The band shows some potential in a scene that has historically been known to produce greats. I hope this is not the last I hear of American Classic, because, if this world has any justice, they will go down, at least, as a New Jersey classic.
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