Doubledrive
“Blue in the Face”
(Roadrunner)
You guys feel that earthquake the other day? Pretty gnarly up here. Chicks in the office were fully diving under their desks and running for the doorways. Of course, being made out of steel like I am, I decided to just sit at my chair and keep wasting time on the internet. At least that’s how I remember it happening. What does this have to do with Doubledrive’s new nu-metal CD? Um, I dunno. I’ll try to think of an analogy by the end of the review.
Are you into nu-metal? Then you’ll like “Blue in the Face”. This eleven-tracker has got all of the trappings: long songs, meandering solos, ballads, facial hair, the whole nine yards. They’ve got big, meaty hooks and choruses that are almost poppy but still just vaguely heavy enough to be pseudo-toughguy. “Imprint” is a pretty standard song, running close to five minutes with two of those devoted to wallowing guitars.
Doubledrive’s lyrics are also remarkably positive, which is something somewhat refreshing, I guess. Personally, I can’t stand the wishy-washiness of nu-metal. The songs seem to drag about in their own mopeyness before going anywhere and the whole genre has become so corporate that it’s tough to tell if there’s any passion in the work or not, and if you’re having a tough time telling that then you’ve already got your answer. But that’s just me. I hide my head when danger strikes; why would you listen to me?
