by Raine Raab
Based out of Philadelphia, Cold Fronts recently released their debut EP Pretty American. The five song track list sounds like a unique combination of Rooney front man’s calming voice and The Pink Spiders upbeat guitar riffs. The first song off the EP, “Heart Attack,” is a song that you hate to love. It is one of those songs that gets stuck in the back of your head and you find yourself singing only the chorus (because it’s the only part you can remember). It’s a catchy tune, and the style of singing reminds me of The All American Rejects’ hit “Swing, Swing,” in that both front men change their pitch mid-word.
On their website the band is described as “a four-piece that does not really fit with today’s digital era of dub-step loops and MacBooks onstage. Instead, the band enforces a strict no reverb policy and plays loud rock and roll music…” Classifying their music as “loud rock and roll” seems like a slap in the face to great bands of the past. I am sure John Lennon would be rolling over in his grave if he was put in the same category as this band. I am the girl who believes rock and roll died many years ago. To me, there is no genre or style of music that can compare with rock and roll and no possibility for current bands to revive it.
Don’t let the website fool you. Just because it was recorded in the same place as The Strokes‘ Is This It? album does not mean it is just as good. Now, if I were listening to this EP in the mid-2000s, I would say there is a possibility that it would be more popular. It would have been appealing to me when I was in high school and a band I would definitely want to see at a local venue. Cold Fronts would have been a perfect headliner at The Living Room, a Providence club that closed back in ’08. Bands that had a good sized fan base but were not quite “Lupos-level” all started on that small stage. Paramore, Against Me! and many local bands got their feet wet at The Living Room and if it was still open today, Cold Fronts would most definitely have a major fan following in Providence.
It is obvious that they have great energy just by listening to these five songs. They would surely put on a great show and there would be lots of dancing to the upbeat rhythms. If you’re a teenage girl, like to dance and don’t mind pieces of choruses stuck in your head, I would recommend this album.
Rating: 4.9/10
