Time For Action – MAD REVOLUTION: Risk It All

Time For Action – MAD REVOLUTION: Risk It All – EP Review

Hell yeah…that’s the vibe right there is what that is.

Pushing play and turning up Time For Action instantly felt like one of the smartest decisions I’ve made this year for sure…the kickass groove and stomp of “BLOOD DRIPS” immediately cranked the excitement and intensity up to eleven.  With an Audioslave-esque type of strong movement & confidence projected straight outta the gate in the music, these guys got my attention right quick, and proceeded to hold right onto it through the length of this whole freakin’ EP.  And I’ll tell you this much as well…no matter how damn good you might think “BLOOD DRIPS” IS, and rightly so you should – I’m tellin’ ya right now, this whole record will reveal all kinds of amazing material that quite arguably has it getting better as it plays.  As in, hell YES “BLOOD DRIPS” pumps out a solid first impression without a doubt, but Time For Action has so many cards up their sleeve that it would make a magician blush.  I dig what they’ve got going on at the start here, but I have no problem fully admitting that they straight up wowed me by the end of MAD REVOLUTION: Risk It All.  Ultimately, “BLOOD DRIPS” is probably the most straightforward Alt-Rock tune they’ve got on the record, which isn’t to say it doesn’t have as much merit or depth to it – but you’ll eventually learn to know what I know, which is that the dimension of their music and their collective ambitions as a band continues to drive the band to really tap into some monumental ideas.  You can hear the potential for that right from the drop as “BLOOD DRIPS” starts the record, but it’s more like a hint…one of those, am I hearing what I think I’m hearing type deals.  Trust your instincts – if you like what you hear in this first song, I can pretty much promise you you’ll have the same reaction I did as you continue on through to the end.  These dudes clearly know what they’re doing, and came to rock.

Yup!  These dudes are on solid ground…they’ve got swagger, they’ve got chops, and you can hear all of that in action throughout “Miss Vane.”  Today is the day I realized that Madrid, Spain, is just too damn far away from me way over here in Canada!  How the heck am I going to get to see this band play LIVE?  Because that’s ultimately what I’m hearing here…don’t get me wrong, I’m happy with the way these songs are sounding recorded and they should be too, but everything coming through my speakers is speaking volumes on behalf of a band that would do it all even better LIVE – in fact, I’d bet money on it.  There’s real showmanship here in Time For Action…songs that are built for the stage and a LARGE audience…I’m genuinely impressed with these guys, and I have zero doubt that you will be too.  All these great things I’ve been saying, and to be completely truthful with ya, “Miss Vane” might possibly be my least favorite in the entire set!  Don’t get it twisted…I’m still listening to this song before 90% of the rest of what’s out there in the scene…I’m merely comparing this track to the rest of the songs on this EP.  We all like what we like and love what we love, right?  It’s not MY fault they put in ALL THIS EFFORT into a song like “Miss Vane” only to have other material that’s somehow even MORE impressive, is it?  They’ll just have to forgive me for my assessment…one of these tunes was going to eventually have to come in last place – isn’t that the way we all listen to music and figure out our favorite songs?  Trust me – you’re not going to be disappointed with “Miss Vane” or any other song on this EP for that matter.  “Miss Vane” probably plays a little longer than it needed to if we’re comparing the length of this song to the enormously ambitious ideas they’ll reveal further down the lineup, but yeah…Time For Action is kind of in a league unto themselves, and while you might feel there are comparable sounds here and there for this or that reason, you’ll find that they’re really only competing against themselves in terms of quality.

Each song has such an enticing way of pulling you in quickly to listen, and how could you not dig that, right?  “Tiger’s Jaws” highlights how this Alt-Rock band has got a soulful dimension to them that really works wonders for creating an even larger, all-encompassing kind of sound.  They’re reminding me a lot of bands like The Blue Stones and Young The Giant on “Tiger’s Jaws,” with like…these remarkable flashes of something more artistic in nature, like accents of Muse or Radiohead in the mix at times on this tune.  The guitar solo was fully welcome here too…it was nice to hear this highly capable band flex that musical muscle they’ve got throughout “Tiger’s Jaws,” but to be completely fair to the band, they’ve been doin’ it from the moment this EP began.  All-in-all, it wasn’t just what this particular song sounded like that made it so awesome, but the shift in the music it seemed to symbolize on the record overall.  Like I’ve been tellin’ ya, both “BLOOD DRIPS” and “Miss Vaine” are quality tunes without a doubt – but when you listen to “Tiger’s Jaws” kickin’ out the jams, it’s where you realize there’s a whole lot more to Time For Action than you might have previously thought from the impression of the EP’s first two tunes.  And while they don’t reveal all their cards here at once on this third cut from MAD REVOLUTION: Risk It All, they certainly flash the potential of what’s to follow as the songs get even more attention to detail.  To think that they’ve been as good as they have been already and that they’re still going to show you even more…I mean…if you’re a Rock fan & you haven’t been convinced to push play yet, what’s it gonna take?

If there’s something about Time For Action that’ll impress you even more than what you hear, it’s the implied potential they display.  For real…listen to a track like “Set My Heart On Fire” and then try to tell me that this band isn’t seriously exciting!  The multiple different paths to success & different directions they could take with their music is genuinely making my freakin’ head spin.  Like, we’ve had what so far – comparisons to Audioslave, Radiohead, Muse, The Blue Stones, Young The Giant, and dare I say, U2 in the sound of “Set My Heart On Fire” – and like…do you REALIZE how far a band equipped with such a versatile vibe could possibly go with their career?  There is literally nothing but green lights ahead for Time For Action!  Fully armed with a sound that truly has a little something or more for everyone, most bands and artists would give up their left arm to have the range of potential and possibility of a hybrid style like these dudes have.  “Set My Heart On Fire” is a genuine achievement and that’s the facts.  I mean, if it was just a comparison to a U2-esque type of vibe, that wouldn’t be nearly enough to sell me on the song…but that’s just the thing, there’s so much more to Time For Action than just one dimension.  Tracks like “Set My Heart On Fire” are built slowly and carefully from the ground up I’m sure, but listen to what the efforts have yielded, will ya?  This is a case of YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW, but like, in the best of ways!  Time For Action put in the work and they pulled out mesmerizing results on “Set My Heart On Fire.”  As good as the vocals have been on this record and will continue to be, the music has been so equally impressive that it’s been hard for either side to have the edge over the other, but in the case of “Set My Heart On Fire,” as cool as the music IS throughout the song, the vocals are entirely superhuman.  What I’m hearing from the microphone is absolutely one of my favorite performances of the year so far.  They’ve got that like…I mean, it’s still close to something like Bono would come up with, but has that same kind of ferocious melodic intensity that I loved in Idiot Pilot’s final album called Blue Blood.

Is it an accident that the most Muse-esque song on this EP actually has the word muse in the title?  No.  I’m sure I love a great coincidence as much as the rest of you out there, but believe me when I tell ya, this is no accident whatsoever.  Calling this song “The Muse Has Left Your Heart” is definitely intentional, and hell, why not lean right into it when the sound is so naturally comparable?  It sure ain’t gonna hurt them to emulate one of the world’s biggest Art-Rock bands, that’s for sure.  What I really loved about “The Muse Has Left Your Heart” though, was that nothing sounds forced to me…like I don’t get the impression that they specifically set out to make something that would remind you more of Muse, so much as I’m hearing a band in Time For Action that is heavily invested in making compelling music in that same kind of way – make sense?  It’s actually pretty natural to discover some similar sonic terrain when you’re making an intricate and artistic style of Alt-Rock, because the ears of creative musicians tend to gravitate towards similarly interesting ideas and a more complex palette of sound.  Plus, as I always like to remind you, art inspires art.  We all draw inspiration from somewhere, and sometimes it’s more noticeable in something we’re doing than it is in other things…it’s as simple as that.  If you ask me, more of a good thing is a great thing – “The Muse Has Left Your Heart” freakin’ jams, and shouldn’t that be all that matters anyhow?  It’s like their own mini Rock-Opera in under four minutes of total run time!  How cool is that?  “The Muse Has Left Your Heart” is a fantastic example of how excellent it sounds when you’ve got a band filled with players that are competing & collaborating with each other to reach that next level…it’s like they’re daring each other to raise the stakes with every move they make on their instruments, only to see their bandmate flash back a smile and say hold my beer as they surge right into the next part of the song.  Outstanding ideas here, and somehow their execution of it all is even better.

Credit where credit is due y’all, that’s what it’s always been about here at sleepingbagstudios.  If you’ve been regular readers, you know I’ve never had a problem saying anything that’s on my mind, pass or fail, so take it to heart when I tell ya that Time For Action has got a great thing goin’ on.  From what I can see online, they’ve been at all this for nearly a decade, and there’s no question about how their years of experience has played a role on this record…they’ve got the veteran’s presence and professionalism on display from start to finish, and quite frankly, they’ve crushed this EP from start to finish.  The heights of the finale, “Will U Risk It All?” is a stellar ending to a seriously tight set of six songs…like fuck, it’s truly a thrilling last cut that is jam packed with pure excellence, full stop.  From the sly sound of the beginning, to the clever beat that accompanies the flow of the vocal melody, to the way that the music begins to gradually expand before opening up completely to a mind-blowing blend of rhythm-rock, doing it all so seamlessly that it’s as pro as pro gets…I mean, c’mon folks – Time For Action is clearly in the prime of their career and completely dialed in to the sound they want to play for the people out there listening.  MAD REVOLUTION: Risk It All shows the wealth of riches they have when it comes to their band, and their ideas…there are no weak points to be found here.  They’ve got an extraordinary front-man that is loaded with personality, and he’s surrounded on all fronts by some of the most capable musicians I’ve heard in the independent Alt-Rock/Art-Rock scenes for sure.  The instrumentation is WILD here y’all!  “Will U Risk It All?” and listen?  Believe me when I tell ya…this is no gamble.  You’re going to like or love what you hear from Time For Action on this new EP, and you’re definitely going to come back for more.

Find out more about Time For Action from this multi-link here:  https://linktr.ee/timeforactiont4a

Ya ha!  This link right here is the key to being the next artist or band featured here at sleepingbagstudios, so instead of just ignoring it, click it instead!