So Much For Wrecking, This Album's Pretty Refreshing | Posted July 17, 2012
The Wrecking have quietly simmered on the back-burner of the industry for quite a few years now, scoring a slew of moderately successful radio hits but never truly establishing themselves as big players. Now, a long-awaited new full-length album is finally upon us and So Much For Love is filled to capacity with light rock goodness.
The first thing noticeable from just looking at the track listing is that a good number of these songs have been released on a previous EP from the group. If you count in the freebies that they've given away this past year, many listeners probably will have heard a good half of this LP, which means there isn't as much genuinely new material as the 14-song track listing might initially imply.
Still, songs like "Fire" and "About To Fall" were highlights of their The Catalyst EP: Deluxe Edition, and with strong lyrics and singable choruses, they don't detract from the enjoyment of this album. After all, a relatable message like that found on the latter--"Isn't everyone, pretending they're alright, isn't everyone, about to fall"--is one worth repeating.
The other returning tracks--"The Reason" and "Our Feet Don't Touch The Ground"--also pull their own weight in sending the album off strongly. In addition to these, the band breaks out one of their originals from their 2011 Christmas EP, a song called "Glorious." The song's strong and I suppose it isn't too Christmassy as to feel overly out-of-place here. And again, the strong lyrics make it worthwhile, "The first cry from your lips pierced the dark like a fist and I wondered how the tears of a child could ever save my life."
Previously released singles "Tidal Wave" and "View From The Top" are also high points of the album. The chorus of the latter proclaims, "I wanna see the view from the top where your grace is enough and your love never stops." The songs are strong and were smart choices to release to fans early. Another song the band snuck out early (via a Noisetrade sampler) was "Gravity." The song's soaring chorus is sure to get stuck in your head for days. That seems to be a pattern with this band, as there's not a bad song in this bunch. Yet, all of these great songs mentioned thus far, and there's still six "new" songs left.
"The Antidote" cleverly incorporates a heart-monitor effect into a song whose theme is "You're My Antidote." Early in the album, "Let Everything Sing" and "Electricity" are strong offerings. And "Symphony of the Broken" offers one of the more musically powerful openings on the album. All in all, every track has something great to offer.
The sound never really deviates much from the band's established pop/rock sound. There's a fair amount of piano and light electronic elements mixed with catchy light rock and ballads. It's an enjoyable combination. It's not entirely groundbreaking and the band would likely blend well musically with many bands on both Christian and mainstream radio. However, the music never becomes boring or cliché, and that's refreshing.
I'll be looking for more from The Wrecking in the future. I hope they can keep this up because while their sound may not be radically new, they do it much better than many others. And better is good – it's very, very good.
Closing Thoughts:
So Much for Love proves to be a strong album from start to finish. It likely won't find it's way onto too many best-of lists come year's end (primarily because the band still seems to fly comfortably under the radar), but it's a strong and memorable entry into the band's growing catalogue.
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