Music Reviews of Unsigned Bands, Demos, Promos

Music Reviews of Unsigned Bands, Demos, Promos

The West End — Risen Buy it at Amazon

Buy it from InSound

I had the pleasure to see the Rockville, Maryland natives the West End perform up in Georgetown recently. The way the crowd was worked was impressive to say the least. The West End are all rockers that know that the word “rock” has been bastardized, twisted, and mutilated to the point where it encompasses practically anything. “Risen” looks to change that, returning rock to its proper place in the hallowed hallways of music. Brad Rourke belts out lungful belches of powerful pop ballads written with a sneer sense of sincerity and jubilant earnestness. As a fan of Nick Cave, it’s no surprise that he conjures forth the ‘everyday man’ in lyrics and delivery. The rhythm section is equally dense with steady percussion, textured bass grooves that are smooth and balanced, while the excellent keyboard work rounds out their sound gifting them with a sound quite far removed from their self-dubbed “primitive Americana rock”; in other words, there ain’t much primitive about the West End. Gershwin’s famous “Summertime” is covered and rounds out an impressive debut EP.

- J-Sin

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