Review: 12th Avenue – Sober

Sergio reviews 12^th Avenue’s Sober.

Artist Name: 12^th Avenue
Album Name: Sober
Year: 2008
Genre: Rock

Slapping elements of glam and hard rock into a dirty, raw package, raucous rockers 12^th Avenue are out to prove that they’re the new messiahs of shake, rattle ‘n roll.

Sober is a nostalgic revisit to the era where rock didn’t suck – you know, the time where bands actually had street cred and were able to play their instruments proficiently *cough* not the Jonas Bros. *cough*.  From hell-raisers to ballads, the tracks are sure to satisfy both the fans of heavy and soft. The songs are gritty, flamboyant, powerful, and equally expressive – but, above all, they’re supercharged with big catchy hooks.

Much in the same vein as Mötley Crüe, 12A understands the value of combining memorable lyrics with hooks – it’s all good having your ‘whoa’s and ‘aah’s, but you need to create some substance that will connect and resonate with your audience. Credit must definitely go to vocalist Mark Haze, who not only has a unique 80s inspired voice, but also delivers his impressive range with precision and class.

On the downside, there were certain guitar sections that featured too much over-compression and the overall recording of the drum tracks was pretty poor – you can hear that the drum kit wasn’t mic’ed up properly and, in turn, didn’t pick up the proverbial musical “sweet spot”. Seriously, Gareth is an awesome drummer and deserved a better representation than this. However, I don’t fault the boys for these errors, as it’s obviously due to production errors, which should’ve been amended by the producer and his team.

After hearing Sober, I’m eagerly anticipating 12^th Avenue’s next album, which should prove to be stupefying. With a kick-ass live show to compliment such catchy tracks, the sky is truly the limit for these young Cape Town rockers.

Best Tracks: ‘Take This Life’, ‘Timebomb’, ‘Gone’ and ‘Faking Heaven’

74/100

- Sergio Pereira
sergio@musicreview.co.za
Join MusicReview on Facebook