Alpine White - The Hale EP
2011, Alpine White
San Francisco rock quartet AlpineWhite is born of the road. First generation German immigrants Colin (leadvocals, guitar, piano, drums) and Ian Denker (bass, vocals) formed the core ofAlpine White, and were joined by friends Ivan Wence (guitar, vocals) and JavierBenavides (drums, percussion) in April, 2011. Songwriter Colin Denker strivesto capture feelings in song, nearly eschewing traditional storytelling stylesfor the colors and nuance of emotion. Alpine White's debut EP, The Hale,is clear evidence of this mission.
Alpine White opens with "WhenShe Gets Home", a nice bit of low-key pop/rock songwriting. Ultimatelytuneful and driven with a solid chorus, The Hale EP gets off to asolid start. It does become evident; however, that Alpine White never reallycame to a solid conclusion to the song. The sudden cut-off chosen hear isjarring and essentially destroys the mood of the song. Alpine White strugglesto capture the same energy and panache and the three remaining songs. "TheEvidence", "Days And Nights" and "All The Weight" areunfocused musically, and never really establish premise nor presence.
Alpine White has something, althoughit's hard to define what exactly that is on The Hale EP. Colin Denker'smiddle-of-the-road pop/rock voice is solid and engaging, but doesn't reallystand out in the crowd. Likewise, the musicianship is solid, but never reallysteps out of the safe zone on the four tracks presented here. There is acharisma that runs through The Hale EP, however, that is hard to ignore.It will keep you engage in spite of a sound that reflects a band that's stilltrying to figure out who they are. It's much too early to define Alpine White,and honestly, it was probably a bit early for an EP. A little time on the roadtogether to let the dynamic of the full band set in would season the sound andapproach. It will be interesting to see what Alpine White puts out next.
Rating: 2 Stars (Out of 5)
Learn more about Alpine White at www.alpinewhiteband.com or www.myspace.com/alpinewhite. Alpine White's website indicated The Hale E.P. will be available on November 1, 2011, but the EP appears to not yet have been released. Keep chcking their website for more information.