Album Reviews
Self-Titled | Days of the New
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How often does a heavy rock band let the acoustic guitar take the lead? How often does a band with a couple hit singles actually produce a great album in entirety? The answer is essentially never to both of those questions. I’d put Days of the New along side The Toadies in terms of stealth. We heard their singles so often that we just naturally assumed they were no good. We assumed wrong.
I’m not trying to insinuate I just realized Days of the New was good, just that I think there may be a significant number of people that let this band slip by. If I remember correctly, Nirav didn’t even really give them a good listen until sometime last year. You’ll probably recognize Days of the New from their single Touch, Peel, & Stand. While Nirav and I listened to Tantric a lot in high school, I guess I somehow never told him Tantric is really Days of the New minus their singer. The second release from Days of the New simply called Days of the New II was pretty terrible. Days of the New III didn’t keep my attention either. Which is why I’m afraid you might not have given the first release a fair chance if you found out about them late in the game. By the way, Tantric’s debut was pretty damn good. Makes you wonder how just one member managed to keep the name…
Maybe they weren’t the first to do it, in fact I’m sure they’re not, but they were the first band I heard pull it off so well. So many bands depend on that crutch of a distortion pedal to play dark and heavy rock. We get so used to hearing that sort of tone out of a guitar that we assume absurd amounts of distortion equals heavier rock. Seriously, no one thinks of the kind of music Days of the New produced when you say acoustic rock… but quite literally, Days of the New is acoustic rock. Their singles from the album are towards its start. But just remember the entire album is great. My favorite guitar pieces on the album are towards the end, Now, Whimsical, and Where I Stand. But if you haven’t listened to this album all the way through yet, you’ve been missing out for well over a decade…. damn… does this mean I’m getting old?
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