{"id":21840,"date":"2014-06-02T00:00:19","date_gmt":"2014-06-02T00:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=21840"},"modified":"2014-10-02T20:42:47","modified_gmt":"2014-10-02T20:42:47","slug":"album-review-electric-river-the-faith-and-patience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-electric-river-the-faith-and-patience\/","title":{"rendered":"ELECTRIC RIVER – The Faith & Patience (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

ELECTRIC RIVER
The Faith & Patience<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nCadiz Music (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Mmm. I\u2019ve been hearing a lot about these guys with numerous critics claiming that Electric River is the next \u201c\u2018big thing\u201d when it comes to British rock. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m always dubious when I hear people make such claims about a band because as often is the case, so-called \u201cnext big things\u201d often fritter away once their debut album has proven that they don\u2019t have enough material to write an out and out classic. And so we come to Electric River, a quartet from my home county of Kent with a line-up consisting of Sponge (bass \/ vocals), Will Whisson (guitar \/ vocals), Chris Aldis (guitar) and Alex Mayland (drums).<\/p>\n

The Faith & Patience<\/em> is their new album and it\u2019s one that, if I may say so, should please the \u201cclassic rock\u201d crowd and even a few of those with their ears tuned toward a more stadium-oriented but not necessarily invigorating style of music. On first impression I\u2019m reminded of a mix between The Clash and U2, or maybe a rugged Bruce Springsteen-styled grey haze that drifts by with a sort of rainy quality. But the big question is, \u201cAm I impressed?\u201d Well, I\u2019m not too sure. When it comes to music I\u2019ve always been a fan of attitude \u2013 bands that have swagger or a certain something \u2013 and I\u2019m not convinced that Electric River has that aura or charisma, but there\u2019s no denying their ability in writing catchy tunes. <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never been a fan of bands like U2 and so to hear a few of those grainy jingles and jangles ringing through my ears is like a nightmare, even though opener \u2018Calling Out\u2019 does have a pinch of venom in its vocal tirades, but there\u2019s just something so bleak about this which oddly could mean big things for this combo in the current climate. <\/p>\n

When one looks at some of the biggest bands over the last number of years \u2013 Kings Of Leon, Pearl Jam, R.E.M. and U2 \u2013 I can see why Electric River are being heralded as the new force on the block, but having said that, I find all of these bands a tad miserable and there\u2019s not really a lot on offer here from this debut platter that is going to have me frothing with excitement. Referring back to \u2018Calling Out\u2019, I hear some clever lyrics and a touch of angst in those vocals, but it all becomes rather dreary very quickly. <\/p>\n

\u2018Chorus Of Fire\u2019 is sub-standard traditional rock hinting at The Killers and, dare I say it, the Kerrang!<\/em> generation, but maybe that\u2019s what these guys were hoping for \u2013 if so, there\u2019s nothing wrong with that if it pays the bills. Even so, The Faith & Patience<\/em> is an album that remains vocally astute and gritty when other departments fail.<\/p>\n

If this was the late 80s or early 90s I\u2019d probably slot this sort of record alongside the likes of Claytown Troupe or Loud, because it\u2019s an opus with promise yet lacking colour and one that is sort of drizzly in its appearance; lacking an overall punch, but no doubt something that should be found trundling along the middle of the road in the US. <\/p>\n

With \u2018Hold Your Nerve\u2019 there is a soulful grunt about the vocal, but for me the music is just so flimsy and corporate, and whichever track I seem to pick this seems to apply. As the rainy 80s jingles of \u2018Cold\u2019 and \u2018Happy\u2019 (which it most certainly isn\u2019t!) trickles in I\u2019m absolutely depressed by this record and reminded as to what is wrong with modern rock music. Sorry guys, but I have little faith and no patience for such a bland affair.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ELECTRIC RIVERThe Faith & Patience Cadiz Music (2014)Rating: 5\/10 Mmm. I\u2019ve been hearing a lot about these guys with numerous critics claiming that Electric River is the next \u201c\u2018big thing\u201d when it comes to British rock. I\u2019m always dubious when I hear people make such claims about a band because as often is the case, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1450],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-electric-river"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21840"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21843,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21840\/revisions\/21843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}