Resurrection Story – String Theory & Collapsing Stars
Resurrection Story – String Theory & Collapsing Stars – Album Review
Sometimes I’ll leave the door open a crack here at the ol’ home office and get an unsolicited but still welcome opinion on what I’m listening to from my wonderful wife. “Sounds like Tool” she said at the start of “Grift,” bless her heart…a nice comment that came up because of the guitar work of Jason Charboneau. “No,” I replied…”this song is gonna end up sounding like it belongs on the first Three Doors Down record.” While I’d still say that I probably got a little closer to the bullseye…neither comparison seemed like it would fully cover it all, and Resurrection Story only seemed to flash a few similarities as they went on to pump out their own sound instead. Spoiler alert…that’s basically how I ended up feeling about String Theory & Collapsing Stars, and Resurrection Story on the whole…they’ve got their own thing goin’ on, and while a few comparisons are always natural to make, credit where credit is due, they accomplish a lot throughout this set-list. They all display what they bring to their band on this opening tune, which makes “Grift” a pretty impressive introduction all-around. Chances are, many people will hear Charboneau’s guitar as the first thing they notice, but the vocals, drums, and bass all have significant highlights in this opening track that you can’t possibly miss as well. I’ll put it to ya this way…if it had remained comparable to Three Doors Down I’d have probably been out by now and likely destroyed my computer in protest, yet here I am, still typing, because there’s more to this Resurrection Story. After a healthy listen to this album over the past week, I feel like it gets better from beginning to end for the most part, but admittedly, “Grift” is a great way to introduce us to the band & what they do.
“TJB” ain’t bad…it’s an interesting tune. So was “Grift” for that matter. I don’t know that I’d say these dudes are dialed completely into what they’re doing yet if I had to judge by these first couple of tracks, but you can hear they’re definitely close enough to where they’d wanna be and it is indeed time to start up the recording process & getting their music out there. You know what I mean? It’s like when you first get your driver’s license…you probably shouldn’t be driving still in many ways without the experience, but you’ve proven that you can. All these dudes can play, and they play together well. As for the material itself…these first couple of cuts feels they’re just scratching the surface of what their potential is at the moment, and I’m not too convinced yet that they’ve got a recording that really reflects what they can do in the best of lights. I’ll be real with ya – there’s something about the way they’ve got their music mixed on this particular track that seems to be missing the mark for me, and it felt different than the majority of the set did. I’d probably chalk that up to “TJB” either being their newest song of the set, or potentially the oldest…it’s either a case of them still trying to lock into what they can do with it and not quite knowing where to take it, or they’re still dragging around one of the first tracks they ever wrote that they should probably in fact, leave behind. In any event, I think it’s actually a bit of a risky move to have “TJB” this far towards the front of the set – I ended up feeling like this is the song I was the most on the fence about after having heard the whole album. Objectively speaking, it doesn’t measure up to the rest and it’s something we can audibly hear – I’d have cut it if I’m being truthful with ya. It’s got potential, but it’s noticeably still in the incubation period, and even in the case where they somehow get it to the best of what it can be, I’m still not sure that’ll really be enough.
Alright…there we go. I feel like they found something on “Hands Of Forgiveness” that was able to grab my attention and helped me pin down who these dudes sound like a little bit more accurately. It’s a cross between Alice In Chains and Brother Cane! Yep! I’m way more comfortable with that. Does that mean they’re outta the woods now? I’m not so sure about that. I’ll be real with ya – the vocals are sounding fantastic on this track…the lead from Ronnie Schoenstein is solid, and when he’s singing with Jason and Fred doing the harmonies, they sound straight-up awesome together. Definitely something I’d be leaning into even more if I was Resurrection Story. As for the overtly complex intricacies of the music and their tendencies to shift into a more Progressive realm…don’t get me wrong, I’m into it, and I’m always going to be willing to listen…but anytime you end up anywhere close to that particular genre I can promise ya that you’ve probably narrowed the potential audience more than you might like. That doesn’t mean that you should stop playing the music YOU want to play, it’s just something to be aware of, and believe me when I tell ya, I’m not breaking news to anyone in the scope of Prog-Rock. All-in-all though, I feel like Resurrection Story bends their sound towards more of an Alternative vibe on tracks like “Hands Of Forgiveness” still, which should hopefully open the doors of accessibility a little wider than anything Prog typically allows for. “Grift” was a great way to introduce us to their potential at the start of the record, but it was “Hands Of Forgiveness” that felt like the song that actually got me onboard with Resurrection Story and convinced me these dudes could go on to exceed expectations with the songs that followed on String Theory & Collapsing Stars…and I can confirm, they’d go on to do exactly that. “Hands Of Forgiveness” was a real turning point on this album…it’s a genuinely solid tune.
“Daze” has the Detroit-based band putting their chops on display right off the drop, sounding along the lines of what you’d discover on the Blues-Rock-tinged sound of something like AIC’s Facelift, or the earlier albums from King’s X. Ronnie brings some additional flash and flair to the whole vibe of tracks like this, and I can hear the potential that they’ve got as a live band. Honestly, to their credit, I don’t know that this particular recording of String Theory & Collapsing Stars is fully capturing the essence of the magnitude that these songs possess or does their sound the complete justice it should. That’s not me knocking the recording they’ve got here either to be clear…it’s more of a general comment on how extremely tough it is to get that magic of what a band like this likely brings to the stage onto an album. Some of you listeners know, some of you don’t – but I assure you, EVERY band and studio does – they all know the task of getting someone’s live sound onto a recording is practically impossible. Resurrection Story sounds like a live band to me in that regard…and to be truthful, that makes it actually pretty damn hard to accurately judge what you end up hearing in the recordings. For myself personally, I end up listening more for the potential than the actual results…like on “Daze” for instance, I know they’d absolutely slay this track on stage and in the jam room, and here in the recorded version, I feel like it’s come out about as well as it could have. Make sense? “Daze” has a slight early Zep sound to it, which I think works strongly in their favor too…but they’ll go in that direction with even more success later on.
As they begin to climb into the depths of “Insanity” – a nearly TWELVE MINUTE LONG epic – they got my attention pretty damn quick here as they started creating a vibe that was reminiscent of something you might find on Ritual De Lo Habitual from Jane’s Addiction for a hot minute or two at the start of this cut. Anything that’s gonna remind me of that is going to be something I’m interested in, yes indeed. Ronnie ends up supplying a much different sound of course…no one out there is Perry Farrell other than Perry himself…and right now, that’s probably a good thing. Still, it’s an interesting and engaging combination of sounds that you might not even assume would work on paper. The band is playing in a very Alt-Rock and artistically-sludgy type of way, and Ronnie sings with such a brighter element of soulful sound that doesn’t necessarily clash with the music, but certainly brings in a noticeable element of audible contrast. For some, it’ll have no problem appealing to them…think along the lines of how Cornell brought that kind of sound to many Soundgarden songs, seeming like a bit of an odd fit, yet finding a way to bring people onboard rather than push them away – Ronnie could prove to have a very similar effect on listeners. Overall, there’s no question about the fact that this dude can sing lights-out when it comes right down to it, but yeah, there will likely be a few folks out there that wonder if he’s the right fit for the grunge-like sound of a song like “Insanity” has I’m sure. Think of it like this…I feel like the guitars on “Insanity” give you a much better glimpse into what Resurrection Story is going for sound-wise on this song, which is a lot closer to Zeppelin than pretty much anything else. So in that respect, to hear Schoenstein come out sounding more along the lines of something you’d expect from a young Robert Plant ain’t all that far away, you feel me? I think a lot of people out there will certainly draw to a similar comparison based on what you’ll hear on “Insanity,” but what makes this track great is that it definitely borrows a lot from the past without being too derivative at all…in fact, the longer they play this track for, the more it seems like their own sound than anyone else’s. There are a great many twists and turns on display throughout the length of “Insanity” but I gotta say, I felt like this ended up being one of their stronger tracks on the album without question. I mean, c’mon y’all…this ONE SONG is nearly TWELVE MINUTES LONG – that’s practically the entire length of a ten track album by Weezer! They deserve real credit for their ambition here and also for the results – “Insanity” it may be, but a smart decision as well – this track is like an audible line in the sand that fully confirms they’re ready to compete on every level.
As you get into the cross-cultural sound of “Bajo Un Cielo Nocturno” and its Spanish influence, I’d imagine most listeners will instantly dig what they find. Jason Charboneau has proven to be a force to be reckoned with throughout the majority of this material so far already, and this impressive moment puts him directly in the spotlight, naked as a jaybird. They come out with a significant win here on this instrumental track…Jason shows a wild degree of technique, skill, purpose, and passion combined in the way that he plays…stunning harmonics, powerfully bold ideas…everything you wanna hear is there. At less than four minutes in length overall, you have to wonder if the rest of Resurrection Story called in sick…”Bajo Un Cielo Nocturno” is definitely on the fringe of what you’d think you’d find on this album after all you’ve heard to say the least, but this was another solid victory from start to finish if you ask me. I not only love the sound of this entire song and the brilliant way that Charboneau plays it, but I very much respect the fact that Resurrection Story chose to include it given how different it is from the rest of the set-list. Make no mistake y’all, that takes some cojones, and I applaud them for the courage it takes to make a move like that. You listen to the results and you know that it’s actually an easy decision to come to…as an individual song, there’s zero doubt about how amazing this track IS – but in the greater context of a record and one that sounds so much different than this cut does, you’ve gotta recognize that it wouldn’t have been an automatic greenlight, no matter how awesome it is. Including a song like this still takes a whole discussion as a band, but I assure you, they’ve made the right call here.
Shout-outs to both Fred Grennan on the bass, and Matt Sabin on the drums. Ultimately, I think most folks that are listening are gonna be enamored with the way Jason plays his guitar or the skill that Ronnie sings with – but make no mistake y’all, it’s completely because this band has such a reliable core in the rhythm section in Grennan & Sabin that the other two are able to shine like they do. And like just about everyone you’ll ever find in the rhythm section, I’m confident they’re proud to play the roles that they do. Especially when things come out sounding as kickass as they do on “Her Devil Eyes” too, am I right? I’ll fully admit that I feel like String Theory & Collapsing Stars managed to get better and better in terms of how their songs sound on this recording for the most part, and even though I might tell ya it’s still a little on the dusty side overall, I’d also tell ya in the same breath that it suits a song like “Her Devil Eyes” too. Much in that same way that you can go back to the early records by Canadian legends like The Tea Party or Rush and get that same kind of audio quality…I dunno, call me crazy, but the texture can often make the experience of listening seem even closer to you than a much more polished studio production. That being said, if my office door was still open or my wife wasn’t in a Zoom meeting right now, I’m sure she’d be quick to point out that “Her Devil Eyes” is much closer to Tool than “Grift” was at the start of the album, and she’d have been right about that, because it is. I still feel like Resurrection Story has put out their own sound on this record on the whole, but there’s no doubt that Tool has had an influence on these guys as they have and will for countless others over the course of music’s history from here on in. Again, what’s key is that Resurrection Story seems to come by it honestly without feeling like they’re trying to imitate, you know what I mean? Any comparisons come by in a natural and complementary way that adds to & enhances their own sound, and I feel like that’s the best way to go about incorporating an influence without having it become the dominant trait in what we hear.
“Numb” gets pretty inventive with its choppy structure and series of stops & starts…you listen to this track and your ears know this would definitely be a tougher tune to play. They pull it off convincingly though…like I’ve been tellin’ ya from the get-go, there’s no doubt that this band can seriously PLAY. As to whether or not a track like “Numb” is going to be able to reach those outside of the Hard-Rock or Prog-Rock realm…I mean…I think that’s still going to be a very tall ask of the average everyday listener, even with the uniquely soulful breakdown you’ll find in this tune that’ll remind you of the artistic bend you found in records like Stone Temple Pilots’ Purple. You’ll find one of the better performances from Grennan on this tune as well, or at the very least, he gets more time at the front of the mix to be heard. It’s a solid track though…for as many directions and different ideas that “Numb” contains inside this one song, it felt impressively cohesive and relentlessly entertaining to me. Another track that seems to be bent on finding ways to one-up itself along the way, from part to part, Resurrection Story continuously raises the stakes and supplies additional reasons to listen. Blistering solos, impressive harmonies, chops that are impossible to ignore, and one heck of a finale over the course of its last couple minutes – “Numb” is a highly satisfying finish to an adventurous and ambitious record that shouldn’t be ignored. I feel like this band is not only extremely capable, but that they’re going to find impressive ways to build their legacy with each album they go on to put out after everything I’ve heard here. Consider me interested…they’ve got me listening, and I’m stoked to hear where Resurrection Story will go from here.
Find out more about Resurrection Story from their official website at: https://www.resurrectionstory.com
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