Driver Side Impact are a new band out of Cleveland, Ohio, whose debut on Victory Records, The Very Air We Breathe, takes elements of pop, emo, metal, and prog, throws it all into a blender, and comes up with a pretty refreshing and enjoyable sound. You can hear bits of Smashing Pumpkins, Linkin Park, Muse, Coheed and Cambria, and Fall Out Boys, but these guys don't rely too heavily on their influences, instead they have crafted a pleasant little nugget of an album that has plenty of catchy hooks, nifty guitar riffs, and loads of keyboards. There are moments that rock hard, like the jagged guitar rock & spacey keyboard waves on "Reasons We Sleep", the sledgehammer riffs of "Made of Gold", and the catchy could-be radio anthem "The Heist". For the most part though The Very Air We Breathe features catchy emo/pop that is sure to catch on with the younger rock crowd who clamor for stuff like this. Give this band credit for layering in so many keyboard parts, many of which approach prog-rock territory. Check out the symphonic orchestrations on the majestic "Our Lives In Slow Motion", the waves of synths on the futuristic trip-hop "Cadence And Cascade", and the searing blasts on the hard rock piece "We Are Your Own". Hearing weaving guitar and synth lines doing battle on the otherwise syrupy emo track "Tonight... We Dance!" really spices things up, which somehow sums up this entire album. Without all the adventurous guitar and keyboard parts, The Very Air We Breathe would just be another poppy emo record. Give the lads in Driver Side Impact plenty of kudos for putting together something that falls outside the lines a bit. The end result is solid modern rock music that should live up to all the hype that Victory Records is sinking into this band.
Track Listing
1. Introduction
2. Your Time To Shine
3. The Heist
4. Reasons We Sleep
5. Made of Gold
6. Our Lives In Slow Motion
7. Cadence And Cascade
8. Cowboys And Indians
9. We Are Your Own
10. Life Like Movies
11. Walk The Plank
12. Tonight... We Dance!
13. The Artist
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