Review Summary: One time NYC Hardcore frontman to Life of Agony, keith Caputo stepped out of the angsty shadow of cousin Joey Z's riffery and brings forth his own beautiful brand of post grunge.
Unlike Life of Agony's hard driving, distortion heavy material Keith Caputo shows his more poetic side on this album. Handling most of the songwriting himself we see a side to Caputo which we long knew existed but had been somewhat overshadowed in the heaviness of LOA's music. Caputo doesn't stray far from his lyrical focus of catharsis from his troubled youth, the loss of his family to drug addiction weigh heavily in most lyrics (although not always as directly as in previous efforts) but this time we are treated to a slant on that sadness which shows a more silver lined understanding within himself. There is a maturity here, a focus, a message, if he can endure surely so can we?
All of these songs are quite stripped back (future release proved even more stripped back) but allow Caputo to take the spotlight and wail away with his soulful crooner tone that mesh grunge laden grit throughout. The music is simple yet complex, a true testament to what can be done with the power of strong composition, the music on this album would carry any great vocalist in good stead. Production shines out brightly at a time where on the musical landscape much in this genre was given a lot less love at the console (Chris Cornell's Euphoria Morning and Scott Weiland's 12 bar Blues to name but two).
Sadly the album kicks off with the weakest track however the remainder of the album proves solid fare and should satisfy even the most jaded grunge era downer who enjoys a shade of hope (similar in feel to bands like Mother Love Bone).
Standout tracks include:
Selfish, New York City, and Brandy Duval.
