Well crafted melodies with energetic sounds, moulded into a contemporary pop rock package.
Former hail from Nashville, and aim to offer an alternative to modern rock by writing material that they classed as 'loud pop'. After putting out a couple of E.Ps, the band released their first full length album '...And Nothing But The Truth' back in 2008. It was well received and ultimately leads to this follow up 'The Kids Deserve Cable'.
Opener 'Head Light' sets the band's stall out, and the 'loud pop' term suggests to me the way that Cheap Trick have managed to fuse plenty of guitars with great melodies. It turns out the band are big Cheap Trick fans themselves, and vocalist/song writer Denny Smith favours the more clean vocal style that Robin Zander does so well. He is flanked by a talented group comprised of Patrick Miller on guitar, Henry Go on bass and Billy Baker on drums, who all play with verve and style. The foursome are responsible for the crisp production too, assisted by Michael Saint-Leon.
The songs are all bright and well produced, with enough of a contemporary feel to be considered for radio play or use in TV. 'How Does It Feel' is one I certainly found catchy enough, and 'Lie To Me' keeps the bar at the same level. The funky 'Say It Isn't So' is great but 'Born A Ghost' is my personal favourite on the album, with some fine riffing and a good, buoyant chorus. There's certainly plenty to enjoy on this album, which clocks in close to what I consider to be the optimum running time for a record, which is about forty five minutes. Thirty minutes isn't enough, sixty or so is too much. Like everything else on the album, Former have judged things just right.
The band certainly have a lot of potential to go further and if you enjoy well crafted melodies with energetic sounds, moulded into a contemporary pop rock package, then you'd would be foolish to not sample what Former are offering.
James Gaden
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