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EP REVIEW: Walking Sideways - Walking Sideways (EP) (2011) By: Cyrus Rhodes
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Artist:
Walking Sideways
Genre:
Alternative Rock, Progressive Pop-Rock Weakness: Winded Songs, Excessive Intros and Outros, Short Sided EP
EP REVIEW:
The EP kicks things off with “Innocent Mistake’ a dynamic intro piece that serves up steady rock rhythm, against infectious vocal vibe, hypnotic melody line and an impressive vocal finale. Track 2 “Haven” shifts gears a bit with methodical guitar intro eventually evolving into a heartfelt follow-up piece that flows and ebbs its way through to emotional fruition. This coupled with mesmerizing guitar ambience and hypnotic vocal layering makes for a very interesting follow-up piece. As the CD slowly unfolds I can hear many different musical soundscapes reminiscent of such classic acts such as Incubus, Live, Jeff Buckley, Muse and The Verve Pipe. Right from the start you will notice rich musical textures overflowing everywhere, full of passion, variety and strong melodic structure. The songs themselves are addictive and packed full of passionate lyrical content and subject matter that simply cannot be faked. The music itself is an impressive blend of rock, alternative rock with just a dash progressive-pop. Besides the typical 4 piece standard, I also didn’t fail to notice some impressive guitar solos, solid rhythm section and lush harmonies layered along the way. Hagedorn’s voice works well within the confines of this catalogue and I might add he takes some impressive vocal risks throughout the EP indicating to me a strong and confident vocal ability. Enter the rest of the bands musicianship - equally as impressive. The EP ends with Track 3 “Magellan” the perfect finale statement for a CD of this caliber.
All songs over 3.5 minutes tend to drag you to the finish line. It’s fair to say many of the songs have excessive intros and outros. This 3 song line-up is a bit short when compared to the 5 song EP standard.
Walking Sideways is an impressive musical teaser from start to finish. This band possesses enough musical talent and songwriting prowess to be extremely dangerous. The music is clean, goes down smooth and is full of passion. The messages are passionate, honest and melancholy – all from the artist’s brilliant perspective. The true meaning of some of these songs is buried deep within the lyrical content and not so easily pinned down the first listen. I really admire artists out there who are themselves and just let the chips fall where they may. Praise goes out to the artist or band that can show us something real and genuine beneath their veil of vanity. Walking Sideways is one of those bands. I look forward to hearing the full length release hopefully later on this year.
Cyrus Rhodes
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