Accidental President
s/t

I guess it has to be somewhat accidental if you are the president of Australia considering that they don’t have a president, although they may just be the president of music or something. This Australian trio comes up with their self-titled debut album that they could have given a nicer cover but looks isn’t everything. They also find it important to mention the fellowship from London College of Music for the guitarist and that the drummer has played in several successful bands and the singer is celebrated by fans and critics alike. At first glance things like that may seem impressive, but I think most of us know that it can mean anything even if it is true as it is a question of definitions and it is always better to let the work speak and not the press material.

And that work is female fronted simple and straightforward heavy rock music with some attitude and energy, and obviously strongly influenced by music they enjoy. It feels quite familiar and the sense of freshness or originality isn’t there despite a strong modern production, and vocals with brilliant attitude and emotion. It seems like music that will work really well performed live by these guys, especially if they carry the same attitude on stage and I have read that they do that. The album itself doesn’t seem very exciting from the creative standpoint, more déjà vu than “wow, this was creative”. It almost seems a bit cautious in regard to creativity, lots of attitude in the performance but very little in the creative process is how I see it. The playing time is sensible though, and the variation is good.

Accidental President feels familiar from the beginning and I feel done with it the second or third time I play the album as it doesn’t give me that sense of novelty I always want with a new album. When listening to a band I have never heard before with a new album I don’t want to feel like I have heard it before, and I do get that sense with this album. That is too bad considering that they have many elements I like, the vocals are great, I like the guitars, the songs are quite good as well, but it will always be a bit of a moot point when a new album doesn’t feel new. Still, they have done their debut now and done it well, there is much room for easy improvements, just add personality to the songs and you are there. I think they are a very interesting band and could be worth keeping an eye on in the future.

They will probably not disappoint with their debut; I may come through as somewhat negative but the album is still good and you will not dislike it. And they are probably even better on stage, but you probably have to wait a while before it will be possible to see them considering the state of the world today. So, it is a fun debut album that promises a bit more than it delivers.

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