9 Left Dead - The Wrong Things
2011, Dirtbag Music
2011, Dirtbag Music
Oklahoma City rockers 9 Left Deadrecently dropped their debut album, The Wrong Things, on Dirtbag Music,following on the heels of a lot of buzz and active rock ads across the U.S. forthe first single, "Put Your Guns Down". Starting out in 1999 asHarmful If Swallowed, 9 Left Dead has grown over the years, with former prisonguards Travis Jones (vocals) and Jared Ellis (bass) joined by Kreg Anthony(lead guitar); Nathan Parrish (rhythm guitar) and Bryan Whitley (drums) to formthe current lineup.
9 Left Dead plays modern rock thatblends in nicely on active rock playlists. In fact it blends in so well it’sdifficult to tell 9 Left Dead from a host of other bands in the same musicaldemographic, a point that becomes apparent very early on The Wrong Things.Jones has a solid voice, but lacks the power or distinctive sound to make himtruly memorable, and 9 Left Dead's sound is homogenized to maximize attentionfrom radio programmers but fails to distinguish the band in the process. Thesongs on The Wrong Things are fairly average for the genre, with thelead single "Put Your Guns Down" sounding like action-moviesoundtrack fodder. The highlight of the album is a cover of The Doors'"People Are Strange", and even here the band sounds like they'rerunning through the song on automatic.
9 Left Dead has something of areputation for their live performances; but none of that energy or panachecarries over into The Wrong Things. There's just too littledifferentiation both within the music, and between the band and other acts intheir genre to really make a strong impression one way or the other.
Rating: 2 Stars (Out of 5)
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