Recreator
If you’re going to start a band, it’s probably advantageous to be in a big city. Mount Gambier, South Australia isn’t London, New York, Los Angeles or Seattle. It’s a city with a population of around 25,000 and it’s more than four hours away from the two closest big cities in Australia. That’s probably not the best place for a band to live. The city is rainy and overcast most of the year. On average, there are only 40 clear days annually. That’s gloomier than Seattle, a city famous for gloomy weather. Mount Gambier, South Australia is also home to the band Recreator. Despite their location, or maybe because of it, they put together an excellent album with a strong grunge influence, solid songs, and surprising audio quality. Both the forming of the band and the creation of the album were slow processes. Once their self-titled debut album was finally recorded, released and promoted under their original band name, Cornerstone, they were slapped with a cease and desist letter from a UK band that had already trademarked the name in the UK and USA. As frustrating as this was they moved on, changed the band name and album title to Recreator and began again with the entire release and promotion process. When you believe in your music, that’s just what you do and Recreator has an album of music worth believing in.
The album begins with a relatively mellow rocker called Pretty Soul. The song suggests hints of Alice In Chains, Matchbox 20 and Stone Temple Pilots, but isn’t a copy of any of those bands. This is one of the more straightforward songs on the album and although it’s not a bad song, it comes across as relatively generic compared to the rest of the album. Maybe that’s why the band chose to put it first. Most of the other songs rock harder and are more unique. The band picks up speed with the next track, Intimate Odyssey. A quirky guitar riff gets things started before quickly kicking into a rocking groove under the verse. By the infectious chorus, the band is really rocking! Intimate Odyssey offers one of the most solid choruses on the album.
Fans of the band Rancid will surely enjoy the song She Wants, She Needs. Although the song is a little slower, more rock and less punk than a typical Rancid tune, there are many similarities including the sound of the guitar and the vocal approach. This track and the next track are two of my favorites on the album. Next up is the very Nirvana influenced song Halo. The overall feeling evoked by this song is extremely similar to that of Nirvana’s song Drain You in terms of the similar melody, the way that the song builds, the screaming vocals, and the guitar sound. The drum part is very similar to Smells Like Teen Spirit. As a fan of Nirvana, I instantly liked this song!
Track 5 is the title track and the name of the band, Recreator. It starts off with a guitar riff that feels a lot like the beginning of Intimate Odyssey. In fact, the song structure throughout is similar to Intimate Odyssey. Even though the two songs are about equal in quality, they each offer something different. Intimate Odyssey has a better vocal hook in the chorus and Recreator is stronger musically, but both songs are solid. Despite their similarities, the songs are different enough to justify including both on the album.
Stay Silent kicks off the second half of the album. Every Recreator song begins with just guitar, then the drums and bass kick in after a few seconds. This usually works well, but I think Stay Silent (and the next track, The Party Song) would have benefited from changing their ways by having the entire band jump straight into the song right from the start. The guitar intro doesn’t really fit with the way the rest of the song rocks. Aside from the intro, Stay Silent is another very solid, hard rock song.
Track #7, The Party Song, was a surprise. Once we get past the short, unnecessary guitar intro, The Party Song rocks! It’s a great, fun rock song in the tradition of two other awesome Australian rock bands: AC/DC and Airborne. The thing is, it sounds like it was written for a different band. There’s no hint of grunge or alternative here. The lyrics and music are 100% upbeat, feel-good, party rock. Even though it’s completely out of place on this album, it’s definitely an awesome song!
Nowhere to Run was the song that introduced me to Recreator several months ago. The Nirvana and Alice In Chains influence on this track hooked me immediately. It may just be because it was my introduction to the band, but I feel like Nowhere to Run is one of the strongest songs, if not the strongest song, on the album.
The fact that the next to the last track on the album is called End made me wonder if the final track was a bonus track or if the band had another reason for not using this as the last song. End really would have made a great final song. It rocks very hard. Everyone in the band is firing on all cylinders and delivering possibly the most intense performance on the entire disc. End is a very cool, hard rocking song.
The album ends with the song that was originally the band name and album title, the excellent song Cornerstone. With a strong Alice In Chains vibe, Cornerstone takes the listener on a trip through psychedelic verses into hard rocking choruses and back again. It’s a cool song, but a strange choice for an album closer.
Although Recreator is clearly influenced by numerous grunge and alternative bands from the 1990s, they manage to take those influences and spin them into something that sounds both new and familiar at the same time. Fans of the genre will instantly be able to relate to the sound, the songwriting and the passion. With the kind of tenacity that theses guys have shown, this may not be the last you hear from Recreator! If you like hard rocking grunge / alternative music, take a few minutes to check them out. You won’t be disappointed!
Here’s a link to their page on bandcamp.
