BAD ASTRONAUT “Acrophobe”
Hmm…I’m still kinda mixed on this. BAD ASTRONAUT is Joey Cape, from LAGWAGON’s new side project, and it’s part melodic punk, part dark IndieRock. What carries this from just being another cd in the pile is that the production is incredible and tuned up to the top of the meter. Joey’s vocals standout with precision, and his virtually trademarked nasal tone is instantly comforting. “Acrophobe,” is a ten song EP, with two covers filling out the release. The problem I have with this is that instead of being a diverse release, it falls into the range of inconsistency. The songs with the heavier guitar tone work extremely well – unfortunately, the tracks with the tacky keyboards do not. About half of this project makes me jump for joy, and the other half goes virtually unnoticed. There’s an odd swath of radio friendliness that seeps into a few of the early tracks, and while the melodic pop is refreshing in between the heavier songs, I just have a hard time warming up to it. An interesting effort, but one that I’m not completely sold on.
Honest Don’s
