NAKATOMI PLAZA "Unsettled" (Red Leader) Review by Corey Schmidt
It has been quite a while since NAKATOMI PLAZA released Private Property, an album that was once described by us as hardcore punk in the vein of STRIKE ANYWHERE. I never heard that disc, but something tells me a lot has changed since then. The Brooklyn band's latest effort, Unsettled, was actually recorded back in 2004 with J. Robbins, but for whatever reason, it took three years for it to actually see the light of day (out now through Red Leader). Fortunately, for any fans that painstakingly waited for a new record, NAKATOMI PLAZA has delivered an awesome album full of gritty post-hardcore songs with just enough hooks to deem it memorable.
First of all, it is extremely important to note that the riff found in the first ten seconds of album opener "A Manifest Destiny Grows In Brooklyn" is beyond excellent. Unfortunately, they drop the riff too soon for the first verse part, but it does show up again throughout the song along with several other high-quality riffs. It's also important because it's when the band works with technical-sounding riffs like this that their songs truly take off. Another song that has a similar riff approach is "The Strikes." Within the first few seconds, the guitar playing is immediately reminiscent of the short lived New York band FIRE WHEN READY (a worthy comparison in my book). However, as the song plays on, it's apparent that the vocal dynamic between Oscar Rodriguez and Al Fair is what makes the song standout. Throughout Unsettled, Rodriguez and Fair's interaction is one of the key driving forces, and although there are some screams and yelps here and there, it mostly works given NAKATOMI PLAZA's foundation.
Lyrically, the band writes on a personal-to-universal level with themes of economics, culture, and sociopolitical; however, none of their thoughts are overbearing enough to discourage listening. In fact, despite the prominent role of the vocalists, I'd say the reason to come back to the disc is because of the way Robbins perfectly captured the band's raw musical edge. Put simply, Unsettled is a rocking record from a band with enough influences that it should appeal to wide variety of music fans.
