Early Morning Rebel - Early Morning Rebel
Record Label: Baby Bird Records
Release Date: July 10, 2012
Some discs can take weeks to make an impression, others can take mere seconds. The self-titled debut album from Los Angeles' Early Morning Rebel is exactly the latter. The disc opens minimally with "Life Boat," a pensive, slow-crawler that features the unshakeable vocals of Nathan Blumenfield-James and a faint organ. There's a splash of synth here and there, but overall the tone of the song is sparse, light and airy. And my gosh, that voice.
The album takes a huge step forward on "Find an Easier Way," a driving, stadium ready rocker that is powerful, passionate and near-perfect. Early Morning Rebel returns to the pensive, sparse tone of "Life Boat," on "Shallow Breath," an inimitable effort that once again highlight's Blumenfield-James' huge vocals. The acoustic and folksy "Four Letter Word," and "No Good Situation," are both gorgeous and intimate paeans to heartbreak that are nothing short of stunning.
At this point, Early Morning Rebel is only five songs deep and there has yet to be anything closely resembling a dud or filler track. And on "War on Love," the trend continues. Slow-moving and calculated, the song draws on a guitar riff culled straight from the U2 playbook. After four straight ballads, the band ups the sonic ante on "Burn Us Down," a ringing, sweetly harmonic, stadium-ready anthem; and "Hold On," a bursting charmer with driving guitars, a sweeping chorus and enough swagger to drop Los Angeles to its knees. Early Morning Rebel closes with "Tell Me What it Matters," a mid-tempo meditation that is anchored in the uber-catchy chorus "Tell me what it matters, what anyone says, cause pretty soon now we're all gonna be dead."
Though it marks for a jarring and cold sentiment, the end result is nothing short of stunning. In just nine cohesive tracks, Early Morning Rebel has constructed an album with nary a flaw. From start to finish, each of the songs are richly constructed, beautifully written and gorgeously sung. Come to think of it, there might not be an album this promising released this year.
Browse Reviews
Write a Review
Alphabetized Listing
Popular Reviews
Best New Music
View Profile Picture
View Blog
Currently Playing
View Signature
Posts: 3,139
Follow This Review
More Reviews By This Author