Label: Universal/MotownRating: 4 Guns
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Written By: Jim Markunas
(Editor-In-Chief)
After Midnight Project is the band of the future, and have manged to take modern rock in a completely new direction. This is exactly how music should be - catchy, heavy without going overboard, and well-produced. Mainstream without being derivative, After Midnight Project's "Let's Build Something To Break is hands-down, the album of the summer. Picture a manlier version of Jimmy Eat World with a little bit of the Radiohead/Postal Service thrown in, or a less gothic AFI, and you've got After Midnight Project's debut LP.
"Let's Build Something To Break," produced by John Feldmann (Atreyu), is standard rock on drugs, in which the modern rock formula is paid its due, but simultaneously dragged away on a tangent. The record is the perfect mix of electronica, heavy guitars, crisp vocals, with a slight dash of indie rock thrown in for good measure. Each song has its own sonic superiority with layers of samples, guitar effects, distortion, and most of all, a wall-of-guitar sound.
Although the wall of guitars hold their own with any alt-metal record, they buck the genre's trend of overpowering the vocals. This is a good thing, as Jason's vocals are what make After Midnight Project different from every modern rock band of the past decade. He's similar to Jacoby of P-Roach and Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray as far as vocal range and delivery, but Jason's actual voice can't really be compared to any current artist; another rarity in today's derivative rock market.
My favorite thing about "Let's Build Something To Break," and After Midnight Project in general is that you never know quite where they're going to take a song. A lot of the tracks on this LP open with blazing guitars, and then gently float into a radiohead-inspired, soft-electro opus ("Backlit Medley," "The Real Thing") or vice-versa ("Take Me Home," "The Becoming," "More To Live For"). Other tracks show us that the "indie sound" of the past five years can still have balls ("Hollywood").
Even the ballads rock. Check out "Fighting My Way" and "Gone Too Long."
My one and only complaint about this album is that I prefer the 2007 version of "Take Me Home." Don't get me wrong, the 2009 version still rocks, but I have my preferences.
Check out our interview with Jason Evigan, AMP's lead singer.
Like After Midnight Project? Check Out: Idiot Pilot, Jimmy Eat World, AFI, Sick Puppies.
