{"id":40455,"date":"2014-05-13T07:10:24","date_gmt":"2014-05-13T12:10:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=40455"},"modified":"2014-05-13T10:36:29","modified_gmt":"2014-05-13T15:36:29","slug":"mach22-sweet-talk-intervention-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/mach22-sweet-talk-intervention-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Mach22 | Sweet Talk Intervention<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Mach22With their musical r\u00e9sum\u00e9s content-rich (and their family connections influential \u2013 one of the band\u2019s two guitarists, Sebastian LaBar, is the son of Cinderella\u2019s Jeff LaBar ), a Philadelphia-based act Mach22 has just released their debut album Sweet Talk Intervention<\/em>. Moreover, they\u2019ve done it independently from any big labels. And although it\u2019s risky to judge a book \u2013 or an album \u2013 by its cover, the front of the album is \u201cso totally \u201880s,\u201d isn\u2019t it? A female face with lipstick smudged all over, these black claw nails\u2026 yes, we\u2019ve seen it all before. Luckily for one\u2019s listening pleasure, the musical content of Sweet Talk Intervention can be dubbed a breath of fresh air in comparison with the clich\u00e9d visual side of things.<\/p>\n

The opening guitar sound that kick-starts this mean rock ‘n’ roll machine is raw, powerful and resonant \u2013 undoubtedly, a good omen! And as you\u2019ll discover soon \u2013 the further into the album, the better it gets. For a good start, there\u2019s \u201cConstant Denier\u201d with its sleazy, modern riff, a great old school guitar solo against slightly punk-ish verses and slovenly style of singing. Mach22 are clearly one of these bands who may borrow a thing or two from the contemporary rock sound aesthetics, but nevertheless draw much more inspiration from the classics of the genre, as it doesn\u2019t take a particularly skilled ear to sense a clear Guns ‘N’ Roses influence in this track. <\/p>\n

Also the follow-up to this, \u201cGo Ahead\u201d, is a raw hard rock piece again much in vein of the Appetite For Destruction album (plus contemporary production). In \u201cDon\u2019t You Give Me,\u201d AC\/DC\u2019s straightforward simplicity is further enhanced with some Zeppelin-esque overtones. And if it wasn\u2019t for the well-crafted vocal harmonies and melodic choruses, the song would certainly remind one of contemporary AC\/DC-infused bands such as Airbourne. For the demanding guitar lovers there\u2019s some guitar wizardry which constitute the last seconds of the track, too. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Just a Man\u201d is fast-paced and aggressive song driven by the great work of rhythm section, pumping bass line exposed and punchy. As for the next track, the facts are that \u201cStone Rose\u201d is a ballad-esque kind of thing indeed and there are even some dramatic wailing guitar tones to it, but don\u2019t expect the sugary sweet choruses and synchronic dropping to one\u2019s knees \u2013 it\u2019s simply not that kind of band who\u2019d go for a clich\u00e9d tearjerker. The guitar sound in \u201cBackslider\u201d makes one think that\u2019s probably how Zeppelin would have sounded if it was founded today, again the inspiration being quite obvious. <\/p>\n

Even more modern are the next two songs, \u201cMade To Love\u201d and \u201cRadio,\u201d aggressive and edgy rockers influenced with funk rock sound, especially in terms of vocals (think Extreme, Red Hot Chili Peppers and further). Slow-ish, lumbering verses of \u201cOne Trick Pony,\u201d the next to last track, are contrasted with straight-in-your-face choruses, its follow-up being \u201cNevermind,\u201d a feisty and dynamic final piece.<\/p>\n

The strength of this album lies both in its variety and the skillful balance between the old and the new \u2013 the classic and the contemporary. Sweet Talk Intervention<\/em> is late \u201880s hard rock sound with a modern twist and this, along with fine musicianship, makes Mach22 one of the more interesting debuts of the year. Recommended.<\/p>\n

Genre: Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nLamont Caldwell \u2013 vocals
\nSebastian LaBar \u2013 guitar
\nTed Merrill \u2013 guitar
\nJaron Gulino \u2013 bass
\nDamian MonteCarlo \u2013 drums<\/p>\n

Tracklist:
\n1. Constant Denier
\n2. Go Ahead
\n3. Dont You Give Me
\n4. I\u2019m Just a Man
\n5. Stone Rose
\n6. Backslider
\n7. Made To Love
\n8. Radio
\n9. One Trick Pony
\n10. Nevermind<\/p>\n

Label: Independent<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.mach22music.com<\/a> – https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mach22<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 7\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Columnist — With their musical r\u00e9sum\u00e9s content-rich (and their family connections influential \u2013 one of the band\u2019s two guitarists, Sebastian LaBar, is the son of Cinderella\u2019s Jeff LaBar ), a Philadelphia-based […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":40457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[2317,1103,9122,9124],"class_list":{"0":"post-40455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-hard-rock","10":"tag-mach22","11":"tag-sweet-talk-intervention"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}