SOUNDTRACK: WALKING ON CARS-Colours (2019).
Walking on Cars drummer Evan Hadnett cited some pretty heavy bands as influences in the Irish Drummers book. But also noted how important Irish trad music was to Irish drummers. None of the songs on this album are as heavy or fast as anyone he talked about, but you can hear the anthemic power of those bands.
I hadn’t heard of Walking on Cars and I’m kind of surprised by that because they seems like they could have been really big. They just called it quits after releasing the 2020 EP Clouds.
But Colours pushes every button for anthemic angst pop. I’m hearing Imagine Dragons, The Head and the Heart, Of Monsters and Men. and that’s just in the first song, “Monster.” A huge chorus and dramatic vocal chops are only the beginning. “Waiting on the Corner” has some processed “oohs” that could be an immediate hook.
Most of the songs are filled with intense angst–Patrick Sheehy’s voice is gravelly and passionate–“she’s in love with somebody else–someone who won’t let her down” (“Somebody else”) and “I was looking for a friend / And it all came to an end / But I survived, yeah I survived” (“Coldest Water”). His voice is also prominent in the mix “yeah it as better when we were kids” (“When We Were Kids”), where he also throws in some angsty falsetto.
“Two Straight Lines” plays simple guitar lines off of electronic washes and “Too Emotional” is even poppier than the other songs. “One Last Dance” features co-lead vocals with pianist Sorcha Durham (I’m surprised there weren’t more prominent female vocals on other songs). Paul Flannery rounds out the band on bass and vocals. The final song “Pieces of You” ends the album with a big piano ballad.
The big surprise to me about thee songs is that they’re all pretty short. The longest tracks on the record are just over three and a half minutes and the whole album is just over half an hour. It seems like an album full of over the top anthemic bangers might stretch out and maybe overstay its welcome. But this record is efficient.
It seems like the band is ending their career on a high note. They’d been together for ten years and played around the world (although never the U.S. it seems). I imagine if they’d gotten this album in the right hands they could have definitely opened for one of those earlier mentioned bands here.
[READ: February 15, 2021] Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo
I saw this series at the library and thought it looked promising–I rather liked the cover art work.
So I was quite surprised to open it and find it in black and white.
A skeleton seems to have come to life and is walking with a mass of other skeletons through the woods. They all seem to know their destination but our skeleton does not. Then a song begins and sings of his plight. It tells of the Road to Epoli.
Then the book switches to color and Rickety Stitch is seen sleeping on a rack. (more…)
