[rating=4.00]
Tonawanda, New York based pop/rock band This Day And Age have returned with their second release The Bell And The Hammer (One Eleven Records). Produced by Ed Rose (The Spill Canvas, The Get Up Kids), the disc is their follow up to their debut album Always Leave The Ground from 2004. Back in November 2006, lead singer Jeffrey Martin parted ways with the band leaving remaining band members Steven Padin on drums, Michael Carroll on guitar, Joseph Secchiaroli on bass guitar, and Kelly Sciandra on piano and French Horn to carry on with the tour. Luckily all of the band members sang on the tracks so they simply shared Martin’s vocal parts. The album is a charming melodic pop/rock piece reflective of modern rock efforts put out by Lakes, Copeland, and Mae. The songs bounce with an upbeat propulsion along the dynamic chord movements and stylized melodic threading. Tracks like “Always Straight Ahead” and “The Bell And The Hammer” have frothy guitar vibrations with a romantic air dripping from the breathy vocals finely stitched into the keyboard trills. The guitar chimes are uplifting and the tempo movements are esthetically filled as the harmonies billow gently.
The tones cascade fluidly and glisten profusely. The assents on “Walking Contradictions” are reposing and firmly coated with melodic pockets of jazz fused rock, while “Building A Home” has a country influence in the melodic rock ambience. The melodies are stylized like the tingling verses on “Winter Winter Spring” and “Practice Makes Better.” There is a lightness and intensity in their melodies that give them distinction and solid traction. It’s a cliché to say that a band is like the ‘80s only better, but This Day And Age are there. The Bell and the Hammer is pop/rock with upbeat climes. It’s the ‘80s but better and more contemporary.
