It’s the album I’ve been waiting on for three years now since this band was announced. Edwin formerly of I Mother Earth, Mike formerly of Our Lady Peace, Jeff Burrows of The Tea Party, and the other guy! As a Canadian alt rock teen on the 90s, this band was a wet dream come true. Yeah, enjoy that visual.
quick side note: couldn’t they have rounded it out with a former bassist from Econoline Crush? I mean there were like 17 of them
So, what happened?
The self-titled debut album kicks off with a great build up and gets you ready for a great alt rock album, then it just kinda drops off.
If I may, let’s backtrack to the 90s for a second. Remember I Mother Earth’s songs? Remember I Mother Earth’s songs that weren’tNot Quite Sonic, Rain Will Fall, Levitate, One More Astronaut, Another Sunday and Used to be Alright? Of course you don’t. Why? Because they were drawn out croons over lengthy instrumentals that felt like there would never be a resolve to them.
The good news is: Edwin’s style hasn’t changed much since then.
The opening track, Like a Wave starts off with a feeling reminiscent of early 90s Smashing Pumpkins, then falls into Edwin’s typical fare of power ballade.
And it goes on… and on… and on…
The colour-by-numbers, lyrically bankrupt rock ballades that has become Edwin standard plagues the first half of the album and at times teases the line of boring; it’s like a dog that wants to run and do something awesome but that darn leash is holding back.
The fourth track, Lost, has a good vibe to it, but again it suffers from Edwinism and by the midway point you’re really okay with it ending anytime soon.
Track five, Fight, begins to pick up the album and it’s finally starting to feel like a rock album. From here on out it’s smooth sailing as the rock ballades have variety and the rockier tunes actually have drive to them while differentiating themselves from one another.
The eighth track, Energy, is one of, if not the, high point of this album in my opinion; it’s a progressive rock track with great dynamics, pacing and is just fulfilling to listen to because it feels like Edwin’s lyrics finally have some substance while Mike and Jeff have broken off the leash and are giving us what we expect from these veteran rockers.
The album remains solid right through to the last track, Live a Little and by the end of the album you can forgive Crash Karma for the weak start of this album.
So, yeah it is a good album, but does suffer from a weak start. The opening four rock ballades maybe aren’t bad per se, but it’s clear Edwin’s looking for another Alive; Edwin, Alive was a great song, and is still pretty good today, but it was ten years ago, move on.
Final verdict: Buy it, really. You might love those four opening tracks, again they’re not bad they just felt like, to me, that they dragged on too long and lacked any substantial message; but four alright tracks and seven great ones leaves this album as a must-have for yuppies like me clutching for their 90s alt rock teenage years; but with one of the most stylistically talented drummers and guitarists to come out of Canada in the last generation of rockers, that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Buy it, you won’t regret parting with your ten bucks.
I’m out.
By: Lee Clifford
It’s the album I’ve been waiting on for three years now since this band was announced. Edwin formerly of I Mother Earth, Mike formerly of Our Lady Peace, Jeff Burrows of The Tea Party, and the other guy! As a Canadian alt rock teen on the 90s, this band was a wet dream come true. Yeah, enjoy that visual.
quick side note: couldn’t they have rounded it out with a former bassist from Econoline Crush? I mean there were like 17 of them
So, what happened?
The self-titled debut album kicks off with a great build up and gets you ready for a great alt rock album, then it just kinda drops off.
If I may, let’s backtrack to the 90s for a second. Remember I Mother Earth’s songs? Remember I Mother Earth’s songs that weren’tNot Quite Sonic, Rain Will Fall, Levitate, One More Astronaut, Another Sunday and Used to be Alright? Of course you don’t. Why? Because they were drawn out croons over lengthy instrumentals that felt like there would never be a resolve to them.
The good news is: Edwin’s style hasn’t changed much since then.
The opening track, Like a Wave starts off with a feeling reminiscent of early 90s Smashing Pumpkins, then falls into Edwin’s typical fare of power ballade.
And it goes on… and on… and on…
The colour-by-numbers, lyrically bankrupt rock ballades that has become Edwin standard plagues the first half of the album and at times teases the line of boring; it’s like a dog that wants to run and do something awesome but that darn leash is holding back.
The fourth track, Lost, has a good vibe to it, but again it suffers from Edwinism and by the midway point you’re really okay with it ending anytime soon.
Track five, Fight, begins to pick up the album and it’s finally starting to feel like a rock album. From here on out it’s smooth sailing as the rock ballades have variety and the rockier tunes actually have drive to them while differentiating themselves from one another.
The eighth track, Energy, is one of, if not the, high point of this album in my opinion; it’s a progressive rock track with great dynamics, pacing and is just fulfilling to listen to because it feels like Edwin’s lyrics finally have some substance while Mike and Jeff have broken off the leash and are giving us what we expect from these veteran rockers.
The album remains solid right through to the last track, Live a Little and by the end of the album you can forgive Crash Karma for the weak start of this album.
So, yeah it is a good album, but does suffer from a weak start. The opening four rock ballades maybe aren’t bad per se, but it’s clear Edwin’s looking for another Alive; Edwin, Alive was a great song, and is still pretty good today, but it was ten years ago, move on.
Final verdict: Buy it, really. You might love those four opening tracks, again they’re not bad they just felt like, to me, that they dragged on too long and lacked any substantial message; but four alright tracks and seven great ones leaves this album as a must-have for yuppies like me clutching for their 90s alt rock teenage years; but with one of the most stylistically talented drummers and guitarists to come out of Canada in the last generation of rockers, that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Buy it, you won’t regret parting with your ten bucks.
I’m out.
By: Lee Clifford
It’s the album I’ve been waiting on for three years now since this band was announced. Edwin formerly of I Mother Earth, Mike formerly of Our Lady Peace, Jeff Burrows of The Tea Party, and the other guy! As a Canadian alt rock teen on the 90s, this band was a wet dream come true. Yeah, enjoy that visual.
quick side note: couldn’t they have rounded it out with a former bassist from Econoline Crush? I mean there were like 17 of them
So, what happened?
The self-titled debut album kicks off with a great build up and gets you ready for a great alt rock album, then it just kinda drops off.
If I may, let’s backtrack to the 90s for a second. Remember I Mother Earth’s songs? Remember I Mother Earth’s songs that weren’tNot Quite Sonic, Rain Will Fall, Levitate, One More Astronaut, Another Sunday and Used to be Alright? Of course you don’t. Why? Because they were drawn out croons over lengthy instrumentals that felt like there would never be a resolve to them.
The good news is: Edwin’s style hasn’t changed much since then.
The opening track, Like a Wave starts off with a feeling reminiscent of early 90s Smashing Pumpkins, then falls into Edwin’s typical fare of power ballade.
And it goes on… and on… and on…
The colour-by-numbers, lyrically bankrupt rock ballades that has become Edwin standard plagues the first half of the album and at times teases the line of boring; it’s like a dog that wants to run and do something awesome but that darn leash is holding back.
The fourth track, Lost, has a good vibe to it, but again it suffers from Edwinism and by the midway point you’re really okay with it ending anytime soon.
Track five, Fight, begins to pick up the album and it’s finally starting to feel like a rock album. From here on out it’s smooth sailing as the rock ballades have variety and the rockier tunes actually have drive to them while differentiating themselves from one another.
The eighth track, Energy, is one of, if not the, high point of this album in my opinion; it’s a progressive rock track with great dynamics, pacing and is just fulfilling to listen to because it feels like Edwin’s lyrics finally have some substance while Mike and Jeff have broken off the leash and are giving us what we expect from these veteran rockers.
The album remains solid right through to the last track, Live a Little and by the end of the album you can forgive Crash Karma for the weak start of this album.
So, yeah it is a good album, but does suffer from a weak start. The opening four rock ballades maybe aren’t bad per se, but it’s clear Edwin’s looking for another Alive; Edwin, Alive was a great song, and is still pretty good today, but it was ten years ago, move on.
Final verdict: Buy it, really. You might love those four opening tracks, again they’re not bad they just felt like, to me, that they dragged on too long and lacked any substantial message; but four alright tracks and seven great ones leaves this album as a must-have for yuppies like me clutching for their 90s alt rock teenage years; but with one of the most stylistically talented drummers and guitarists to come out of Canada in the last generation of rockers, that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Buy it, you won’t regret parting with your ten bucks.
I’m out.
By: Lee Clifford
It’s the album I’ve been waiting on for three years now since this band was announced. Edwin formerly of I Mother Earth, Mike formerly of Our Lady Peace, Jeff Burrows of The Tea Party, and the other guy! As a Canadian alt rock teen on the 90s, this band was a wet dream come true. Yeah, enjoy that visual.
quick side note: couldn’t they have rounded it out with a former bassist from Econoline Crush? I mean there were like 17 of them
So, what happened?
The self-titled debut album kicks off with a great build up and gets you ready for a great alt rock album, then it just kinda drops off.
If I may, let’s backtrack to the 90s for a second. Remember I Mother Earth’s songs? Remember I Mother Earth’s songs that weren’tNot Quite Sonic, Rain Will Fall, Levitate, One More Astronaut, Another Sunday and Used to be Alright? Of course you don’t. Why? Because they were drawn out croons over lengthy instrumentals that felt like there would never be a resolve to them.
The good news is: Edwin’s style hasn’t changed much since then.
The opening track, Like a Wave starts off with a feeling reminiscent of early 90s Smashing Pumpkins, then falls into Edwin’s typical fare of power ballade.
And it goes on… and on… and on…
The colour-by-numbers, lyrically bankrupt rock ballades that has become Edwin standard plagues the first half of the album and at times teases the line of boring; it’s like a dog that wants to run and do something awesome but that darn leash is holding back.
The fourth track, Lost, has a good vibe to it, but again it suffers from Edwinism and by the midway point you’re really okay with it ending anytime soon.
Track five, Fight, begins to pick up the album and it’s finally starting to feel like a rock album. From here on out it’s smooth sailing as the rock ballades have variety and the rockier tunes actually have drive to them while differentiating themselves from one another.
The eighth track, Energy, is one of, if not the, high point of this album in my opinion; it’s a progressive rock track with great dynamics, pacing and is just fulfilling to listen to because it feels like Edwin’s lyrics finally have some substance while Mike and Jeff have broken off the leash and are giving us what we expect from these veteran rockers.
The album remains solid right through to the last track, Live a Little and by the end of the album you can forgive Crash Karma for the weak start of this album.
So, yeah it is a good album, but does suffer from a weak start. The opening four rock ballades maybe aren’t bad per se, but it’s clear Edwin’s looking for another Alive; Edwin, Alive was a great song, and is still pretty good today, but it was ten years ago, move on.
Final verdict: Buy it, really. You might love those four opening tracks, again they’re not bad they just felt like, to me, that they dragged on too long and lacked any substantial message; but four alright tracks and seven great ones leaves this album as a must-have for yuppies like me clutching for their 90s alt rock teenage years; but with one of the most stylistically talented drummers and guitarists to come out of Canada in the last generation of rockers, that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Buy it, you won’t regret parting with your ten bucks.
I’m out.
Sean Chin
Chief Editor & Founder of Live in Limbo. Host & Producer of the Capsule Podcast. Sean is an award-winning photographer and Nikon Professional Services member. His work has appeared on the CBC, Pitchfork, and MUCH. He is an Academy Delegate at the JUNOs (CARAS) and has been involved in the Toronto music scene since 2005. He is also an endurance and CrossFit athlete. You should follow him on Twitter @SeanChin.