19 Mar 09
The Boxer Rebellion
(Wiki) | (Last.FM) | (Myspace)
Union
[January 11, 2009] | [Self-Released]
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8.6/10
What exactly is it that defines an indie band? Is it a unique style of instrumentation or is it a band that stands alone from major record labels? Over the years, the term “indie” has become increasingly popular as bands such as Snow Patrol or The Fray (who aren’t truly indie what-so-ever) have been coined indie as well. Perhaps the true definition of an indie band though is a band that has independence from musical classification and independence from a major label’s insistence to put out largely accessible music. The Boxer Rebellion, after releasing their debut album Exits in 2005 have since been kicked to the streets by their old record label, Mercury. Now, four years later, their new album entitled Union has finally been produced released independently by the band with an entirely different sound. To make things even more interesting is that the album has overtaken sales of Coldplay and MGMT on iTunes even though it wasn’t released by a major label. The band have seemed to gain a lot from releasing the album independently as the record shows off their creative skills and puts their musical ability to an all new high.
The album stands completely alone from The Boxer Rebellion’s first record Exits. The band have now begun to explore melody and acoustic guitar riffs as well as some electronic instrumentation. As a whole, the album becomes more intriguing and beautiful because of these concepts. Rather then having loud riffs that overtake Nathan Nicholson’s ranging vocals, we are shown a soothing and motivated sound that enraptures us and allows Nicholson to show off an incredible voice. On the track “Move On” we are given a simple guitar riff but where the song really shows its beauty is in Nicholson’s self harmonized vocals and Piers Hewitt’s subtle, but right drum sound to go along together. The chorus of the song may be the most beautiful portion of the record as we hear spellbinding notes sung by Nicholson. The song is so meditative in a way, making for a peaceful and desirable listen. “Soviets” shows off an enticing chord progression on the acoustic guitar by lead guitarist Todd Howe and Nicholson who play together. Reminiscent of early Coldplay songs, “Soviets” shows a true passion from the band that we are able to grasp on to as listeners. “Misplaced” shows us the most melodic song on the record and continues to create a gentle, soothing sound in the air that is incredibly pleasant. “The Gospel Of Goro Adachi” is the most unique track on the record as it uses electronic drums ever so slightly. The dream like sense of the song makes it one of the most beautiful songs on the record as it brings such a peace to your mind. “These Walls Are Thin” shows us even more of this while finally acquiring some attitude at the same time.
Nicholson’s songwriting has also improved greatly and this may be made clear by his vocalizing. Each song shows a deeper side of Nicholson and the imagery we are left with is everlasting. “Semi Automatic” shows off some of his best songwriting with a great vocalized melody. Where as Nicholson’s vocals seem to always drive the melodies of each song on Union, “Semi Automatic” most abides by this recurring theme. This new musical quality has to be their largest improvement as a band and it enforces Nicholson to cast spells on us with his incredibly underrated voice. This gives the band even a dream pop quality on tracks such as “Silent Movie” where lead guitar fills flow through the song in harmony with Nicholson’s voice and beating drums and bass take it down to give the song a multi layered concept. It’s a breathtaking beauty we are seeing here from the band and it’s all simply organic in it’s delivery.
At the same time as the album is good, Union unfortunately uses too much of the same sound for too long. The tracks do not differ immensely and on songs such as “Forces”, we see a mainstream side of the band that should probably have never poked its head out the door. Although the album shows off a terrific and completely gorgeous new sound for The Boxer Rebellion, it fails in its redundancy. Still though, the album has shown a terrific side of the self proclaimed band and a lot of potential sits with them. The beauty of this record lies with their musical and melodic style and it garners a high score for a truly independent record.
-Eric
