Six O'clock News

Artist: Band: Six O'Clock News
Label: N/A
Website: http://www.myspace.com/sixoclocknews
Genre: Rock
Sounds Like: ?
Technical Grade: 9/10
Production/Musicianship Grade: 9/10
Commercial Value: 9/10
Overall Talent Level: 9/10
Songwriting Skills: 9/10
Performance Skill: 9/10
Best Songs: Single
Weakness: ?
CD Review:





From Guelph, CA comes a scorching single from a dying breed of Rock bands that not only know how to conjure up the raw energy and emotion of performance, but is also is knows how to record it. With driving percussions and screaming guitars that somehow complement a memorable melody. The pleasant surprise on this track is the strong lead vocal which enables the song to soar to new heights, placing Six O'Clock News on anther level, and giving true Rock fans reason to tune in.

Best Rock Single: “Angry Place” – Six O’Clock News

Best Overall Performance On A CD By A Duo, Group Or Band: Six O’Clock News

Best Overall Musicianship On A CD Project: Six O’Clock News

Best Performance In a Rock Song: Six O’Clock News

Most Commercial Viability Band: Six O’Clock News

http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-sixoclocknews-angryplace.html

http://www.musesmuse.com/gian2008-misc.html

Thanks to Gian Fiero for the most awsome review!
- http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-sixoclocknews-angryplace.html

So, a little confession before I get to the rest of this review - I get instantly nervous when I see a band that has a singer that doesn’t play another instrument. Now, I get that there are some phenomenal bands out there that have front men and women that don’t play another instrument. They are great vocalists and they have the charisma to carry the rest of the band through the musical adventure of a show - those are the greats and they are few and far between. What I’ve seen far far too many times is the antithesis of that….guys that stand hugging a mic stand, staring at their shoes and singing because…they wanted to be in the band and weren’t musicians - most of the time it shows, and most of the time it’s incredibly painful.

KW, Guelph, and area seem to generate a lot of bands. And if they stay together long enough, they inevitably make a couple of phone calls and end up going on a road-trip to take a kick at the big smoke. A lot of times, the bands don’t exactly kick though and so they come into town, to play The Horseshoe on a Monday or some other well known bar on an off night and leave without much fanfare. Trust me when I say that Six O'clock New is not one of those bands. This band is innovative, powerful, unique and just damn good. So what makes them good.

Let me introduce you to Barrett - Barrett is the front man for the news, and he has the “newsheads” (that’s what the fans are referred to as) wrapped up like fish’n'chips on a Friday. This guy is great. Think about Rage Against the Machine at their best, and Barrett is there. He’s the consummate front man and he delivers in every way that is important - His singing is intense, animated and his voice is really strong. Barrett is a vocalist - this isn’t just about screaming into a mike with passion - his voice and the microphone are his instrument and it flows every bit as good as the rest of the band. Barrett has great timing, and he easily jumps from song segments that are epic and flowing to complex staccato singing that is punctuated perfectly. He had the audience screaming by the second song and kept them there the whole way through. His performance is just that, performance in the most dramatic sense of the word. Barrett don’t get a big head, enough about you.

This band would be nothing without the dynamic duo of Tim (Bass) and Jonas (Drums) - I love these guys, and I’m not convinced that they’re not the same guy; their timing being in such lock step. Seriously this is one of the tightest rhythm sections I’ve ever heard, and they both played with an enthusiasm and energy that you can’t help but enjoy watching.

On top of the foundation laid down by Tim and Jonas - add to that a touch of Mike and Mike (the two guitarists) who both have some serious guitar playing chops and you’ve got one powerful band. One of the Mikes plays a Gibson, and I want to point him out in particular - spectacular playing!

Throughout the performance this was a band that showed that they’ve rehearsed their set - everything comes off extremely well timed and the set moved nicely from one emotion to another. There’s lots of message in this music, and Barrett does a decent job bringing that message out.

So where can the band improve? - 2 areas: 1) story telling - some of the introductions to songs could bring out the message just a bit better (i.e. rather than saying “this is a song about _______”, I’d like to hear why they wrote the song (as long as they keep it really short) 2) some of the softer singing, needs some work. It could be that a key change is needed for the songs so they stay in Barrett’s range, or it could be just a bit more work is needed on them.

Overall, if you’re looking for a break from the singer songwriter schmaltz that seems to accompany every car advertisement out there…these guys are recommended strongly - make sure you’re ready for them.
- KJ- http://ampbuzz.wordpress.com/

A few weeks ago, in this space, I wrote that
the best thing about the preposterous new album by Kitchener's
Iron Bitchface is that it is only seven minutes long.

With that in mind, do you want to guess what
is the very worst thing about the new album by
Six O'Clock News?

Yep, it's seven minutes long, which isn't long enough at
all.

Whereas the seven-minute mark provided merciful respite from Iron Bitchface's
noise-metal assault, the seven-minute run-time of the Six O'Clock News
self-titled debut is merely a tease that leaves you wanting
more.

As soon as you get into a groove, when you
start drumming your thighs and singing along with the choruses,
it's all over.

That's not to suggest that all listeners would feel the
same way. Six O'Clock News play a kind of straight-edged
hard rock that might not appeal to more delicate palates
(that is, if you think Coldplay totally rocks, you might
as well stop reading now, you weenie).

The five guys in Six O'Clock News have struck a
successful balance between the aggressive riffery of modern metal and
the melodic sensibilities of classic rock. They don't forsake good
songwriting just for the sake of sounding heavy.

The album has surprisingly high production values for an indie
release, exuding a rich, eardrum-massaging sound that belies its presumably
low budget.

The first of two tracks on the EP, Angry Place,
would not be out of place on any of the
latter-day Metallica albums (which would surely draw ire from diehard
early-Metallica fans, but they just need to relax a bit).
It's centred around a steamroller guitar lick and lyrically simple-but-effective
chorus that invites singing/yelling along.

The second track, Angels, slows things down a bit with
a lovely acoustic guitar intro, but then charges ahead with
multi-layered call-and-response verses that make for a radio-friendly song that
evokes bands like Finger Eleven or the softer moments of
Disturbed.

So clearly, the seven-minute disc is a bit infuriating, since
it whets the appetite without leaving you feeling satiated.

Hopefully soon we'll be treated to a a full expose
-- not just a sound bite -- on Six O'Clock
News.

chunter@therecord.com

http://therecord.blogs.com/withinearshot/cd-review-six-oclock-news.html
- By Colin Hunter