Band: The One Night Band
Album: Hit & Run
Label: Stomp Records
Montreal's One Night Band starts their follow-up to their debut on a high note, but ultimately exhausts the listener 15 tracks later with monotonous vocals, tempos, and organs keys. This isn't to say the album is all bad, far from it in fact. Much like ska legends The Slackers, and unlike the majority of modern ska bands, One Night Band gathers inspiration from a variety of pre-90s sources, most notably sixties era raggae and swing. These lead to some very relaxed, head swaying tunes fit for a sunny summer drive. For this reason I wouldn't be surprised if a song or two eventually sneaks its way onto one of my many summer playlist in the future. But my praise and comparisons to genre greats ends there.
The problem ultimately stems from the departure of their female vocalist, placing the entire responsibility on Alex Giguere. While Guguere's gruff French Canadian accented vocals offered a nice contrast alongside the former female vocalist, independently he fails to supply enough vocal range to make the songs memorable. In a way he sounds like a dude sitting on the john who has suddenly realized that he needs to up his fiber intake - each vocal sounds incredibly strained and forced.
In light of such short comings, one may have thought the band would have used varying tempos, instruments and arrangements to cover up Guguere's mono-tone droning. However, the listener is met with disappointment here as well. Musically, unlike contemporaries such as the Aggrolites, One Night Band overuses their retro organ sound to such an extent that there were times where I practically forgot entirely that it was part of their repertoire. This is particularly troubling for me since I've always found the sound refreshing - but here the band has entirely robbed me of any enjoyment and is dangerously close to making outright hate the instrument. Furthermore, you've heard their ska/reggae guitaring in practically every mediocre ska/reggae band, so it barely warrants any attention. Occasionally (I counted a whole two times) the band brings out the saxophone for a much needed solo, offering a glimpse of what could have been, but the "excitement" ends there.
On the cover of the album the band goes for a retro vibe providing a stamp boasting that the record supports "mono" audio output. But after one listen, it becomes painfully obvious that in this case "mono" simply stands for monotonous and monotone.
The problem ultimately stems from the departure of their female vocalist, placing the entire responsibility on Alex Giguere. While Guguere's gruff French Canadian accented vocals offered a nice contrast alongside the former female vocalist, independently he fails to supply enough vocal range to make the songs memorable. In a way he sounds like a dude sitting on the john who has suddenly realized that he needs to up his fiber intake - each vocal sounds incredibly strained and forced.
In light of such short comings, one may have thought the band would have used varying tempos, instruments and arrangements to cover up Guguere's mono-tone droning. However, the listener is met with disappointment here as well. Musically, unlike contemporaries such as the Aggrolites, One Night Band overuses their retro organ sound to such an extent that there were times where I practically forgot entirely that it was part of their repertoire. This is particularly troubling for me since I've always found the sound refreshing - but here the band has entirely robbed me of any enjoyment and is dangerously close to making outright hate the instrument. Furthermore, you've heard their ska/reggae guitaring in practically every mediocre ska/reggae band, so it barely warrants any attention. Occasionally (I counted a whole two times) the band brings out the saxophone for a much needed solo, offering a glimpse of what could have been, but the "excitement" ends there.
On the cover of the album the band goes for a retro vibe providing a stamp boasting that the record supports "mono" audio output. But after one listen, it becomes painfully obvious that in this case "mono" simply stands for monotonous and monotone.
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