I’ve followed the career of this band from Chicago since their inception. In fact, I even knew them by a different name for a time. Since the name change, and a couple personnel changes, they’ve been full speed ahead, releasing two EPs, touring like crazy, getting signed, and now finally their first full-length album is coming.

The album kicks off with a familiar, if slightly retooled song. This is one of those rare times that an independent band goes and does a new recording of  a song off in a big L.A. studio, and it comes out the other end even better. The production is perfect on this fast rock ballad that is the natural choice for kicking off the next chapter of a career.

We see a strong mix of familiar and brand new songs throughout the album. All told, there are five songs that have appeared elsewhere, and seven that are brand new. Of those five, only one suffers from over production. Singer Mike Chorvat experiments with some new vocal inflections, and some cleaner singing that usual. This works great on Here Goes Nothing and Rollerskates, but makes Hello Nurse sound comparatively cheap (when compared both to the previously recorded version, and the other songs on the album).

Elvis Lives appears on an album for the first time with a full band, though fans have had an acoustic version for about a year. This song, placed almost in the middle of the album, marks the first time listeners will know they’re listening to a burgeoning rock success. The band sounds like a unit that’s played together for 20 years in this piece, and the momentum doesn’t stop. We get a ‘60s style ballad, a couple more familiar tracks, buffered by a stretch of 4 all new tracks. These new songs really showcase an evolution of the band and their music. They are ready to take the solid independent sound and bring it into the mainstream. If State Tollway is chosen as a single and isn’t an unabashed hit, this reviewer will be very surprised.

All in all, this is an amazing first full-length album. The over-production or over-change trap really only reared its ugly head once, and the flow of the rest of the album more than compensates. For longtime fans, this will be the new go-to album to convert others. For alternative rock fans who want a fresh approach to the genre, you’ve found it: driving guitar with some solo work far beyond anything heard from this band before, drum tracks that steer well clear of the generic beat we so often hear, bass that helps move things along, and vocals, both lead and backup, that mesh perfectly with this band. I suspect Treaty of Paris won’t have to ask track eleven’s question much longer. This album gets 9.5 Guitar Hero guitars out of 10, as in, I can’t wait to see bands like this reach into that mainstream level.

Sweet Dreams, Sucker hits stores Tuesday September 25th. More info about Treaty of Paris can be found by clicking their name.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 11th, 2007 at 11:22 am and is filed under Lucas Siegel, Music. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.