Motion "Cold Heroes"

When someone tells me that I can't judge a book by its cover, I simply bite my lip. After all, aren't covers designed so that the potential buyer would want to buy it? Isn't there some sort of aesthetic tie-in between the artwork and the content? In theory, yes. Cold Heroes' cover is an excellent example of this theory in motion. The cover--a blue-line drawing of a thunderbird--warned me that I was about to be ROCKED.

Yeah, The Motion is an indie-rock band, and they take no shame in wearing their influences on their sleeves. Why should they? They're influenced by some really great bands, most obviously Archers of Loaf and Dinosaur, Jr. Five years ago, that last sentence would have been a quick and sharp death sentence--why would you want to be a cookie-cutter band, when the real thing was still available? But Dinosaur, Jr. grew worse as time went on and I can't find my copy of Vee Vee, and so I can't really be too critical of what The Motion are doing here. It could be worse--they could have tried to ape Modest Mouse or Built to Spill.

Songs like "I'm Not Going to Fight (To Make You Feel Normal)" and "Color Stains the Gray, or, Must the Young Die Too??" are two highlights, and are good in their awkwardly-witty titled rock song fare, When they mess around with the indie-rock formula, such as on "Still Running," they actually sound great, and hint at a greater talent. Not that what they're doing on Cold Heroes is terrbly derisive-sounding, it's just the difference between GOOD songs and GREAT songs.

The main problem with Cold Heroes seems to be in the mix. At times, lead singer Brent Larson's vocals are competing with the guitar solos, which is more than distracting. Other times, the instruments seemed to be so high in the mix that he seems to be singing behind a wall. A rock wall. A Wall of Rock. Not that I mind, but it makes for a rather hollow sounding song.

Time's passing us by, my friends, and this record sounds more "traditional rock" now than it would have been seven years ago. Cold Heroes isn't anything that's particularly innovative, it's just a rock record, and it's a pretty good one at that. Nothing could be finer than a couple guys gettin' together and rockin' out, especially when they all like great music! Who knew that those underground rock bands would really have an influence many years after their departure? I don't mind it at all. Sometimes it's great to be reminded of those days of yester. Hell, I'd buy 'em all beers if they rocked the local bar.

--Joseph Kyle