Raskins; The: The Raskins

The problem with shoving your best song front and centre on an album is that everything can feel downhill from there. However for The Raskins, this is a pitfall neatly sidestepped by resolutely refusing to file anything from track one to twelve under the name filler. Therefore instead of an insurmountable bar, "We Had It All" merely opens this self titled album from NY brother Logan and Roger Raskin as a catchy as hell rush of good time grooves and hooks - crack it open and it says "hit" right through.

Logan is a top-notch singer, smooth yet gritty, likeable yet nasty, while brother Roger knows how to pick out a glorious melody line just as well as he does a rip-roaring riff. The concoction here isn't convoluted, with a touch of modern AOR, a good old heavy roll of rock and just that pinch of countryistic stylistic that seems so damn popular in 2014. However the results never quite slide into we're doing this for the "here and now" and yet cleverly, never do they sound too "days gone by" either. Yes, there's no denying that The Beatles, Cheap Trick or Enuff Z'Nuff (well, the latter two have always ripped off the former with panache anyway) have spun regularly in The Raskins household, with the focus firmly on melody, chorus and hook but when were any of those bad things?

"Need Another Hero" employs the same up and at 'em, happy times formula as the album opener, while "Scream It Out Loud" almost riffs like The Wildhearts! However "On The Radio" reveals an all too slick Power-Pop (with the emphasis on the Pop!) that does leave you worried about chart chasing, however "Reach" manages to go down the road signposted "the kids might like this" with far better results, an almost samba beat bouncing off phased vocals and acoustic guitar to great effect.

That this band have already hit the road with the likes of Motley Crue and Alice Cooper should tell you that people in lofty places already think highly of them and rightly so. Yes, there's a tendency when the well runs a little dry, to rely on a set formula, which in fairness works. However in the end I'll be far more surprised if The Raskins don't end up as a name we all hear regularly, than if they do.

Track Listing
1. We Had It All
2. Need Another Hero
3. Lost In The Dark
4. Open Our Eyes
5. Scream Out Loud
6. On The Radio
7. Save me Now
8. Where Do We Go From Here
9. We Keep Fighting
10. Find My Way Home
11. Stand Up
12. Reach

Added: October 19th 2014
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: The Raskins on facebook
Hits: 1837
Language: english

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