So, yesterday I was screwing around on twitter when i noticed that I had a brand new follower! After revelling in the small euporia that a “bump” of acceptance can generate, I investigated them a little further.

Turns out they are an NJ-based music group with an album available for free download via their site. What a perfect opportunity for me to really get an idea of someone’s sound right off, and see if I would eventually regret giving them my email address (the cost of the album download).

So, first of all I have to say that I feel justified in putting these kids on blast here because some of NJ is or might as well be NYC…and there’s a good chance you’ll see these people here in the future anyway. With that, let’s delve into the nuts and bolts with three random tracks from the record:

Three’s A Crowd: Every album, like every show, needs a great opener. This track is certainly a good introduction to their sound. It’s got catchy riffs, great energy, and pretty clean production. This track and many of the others on the album kinda give me an alt core vibe if I had to put my finger on anything specific.

Living Proof: I had such a crazy Billy Corgan moment with this song that I instantly loved it. The vocals really sounded at times, to me at least, like some of his early work. Again, the production on this song is great and the kind of flowing yet still crisp guitar work makes it a definite transit playlist track for me (that’s a good thing, by the way).

Don’t Forget To Breathe: An excellent little uptempo rock track I could see being a great live number for a serious injection of energy.

The Nico Blues almost certainly have been influenced by early indie rock, punk, and the original alternative scene. All of which they manage to blend in a pretty fun way on this record.

Sniffing around the internet, I’ve learned that they do their own production in a built from scratch studio, which is just astounding. Just the way they manipulate certain moods with balance variations is pretty excellent. Regardless of what you think of the product, that’s absolutely awesome for an indie act to have that kind of mastery over their own sound.

Most certainly worth a listen and download, I’d also suggest throwing them a donation for the obvious hard work put into producing the album.

I feel like I should have some sort of culminating “rank” for this, but I honestly don’t have that kind of system thought up or set up. If I had to grade this album, I’d give it an A for the variety, production, and energy.