Residential Aliens

The description of Residential Aliens on StoryAmp promises "This is going to be the start of something big." That may be the case. You know, they say there's nothing new in music. Maybe they're right, but there are still bands that don't sound like 30 other bands. Residential Aliens technically may not be doing anything new, but this band certainly does enough to grab my attention, particularly with the chaos of the first song "Not So Swift." The chorus of this song is the kind of noise you expect to hear from your teenage neighbor's garage. And that's not a bad thing.

This band is part sludge, part punk, a touch of metal, and healthy doses of volume. It's hard for me to say who this band reminds me of. At some points, it reminds me a bit of Dead Milkmen - especially in the vocal delivery. At other times, the blend of punk and metal reminds me of a band called Solid Goat.

As I mentioned, this band does enough to grab my attention particularly since two of the five songs on the EP are covers. One is a garage version of "Peaches" by Presidents of the United States of America. This band certainly did sludge the song up a bit, but for the most part, it's a fun cover of a forgotten song. The other cover - a version of "Yellow Ledbetter" - shows the humor of the band. The vocalist sings this in his best imitation of Eddie Vedder. That to me is funny enough, but it's made even funnier by the singer's laughs in the song.

So, maybe Residential Aliens isn't breaking any new ground, but this EP has caught my attention enough that I'm looking forward to hearing more from this band. - Gary Schwind - The Examiner