12 Stones

Item: 12 Stones
Author: Bert Gangl

(2002)

Reviewed by Bert Gangl

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Label Wind-up RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2002

alternative rock modern rock post-grunge

Perhaps owing to New Orleans' thriving live music scene, the path to widespread exposure for Louisiana's 12 Stones has been a relatively short one. Hailing from Mandeville, a rural town of roughly 8,000 just north of the Crescent City, the band was invited to play for industry representatives in New York after only a dozen or so live shows and netted a major-label deal with Wind-up Records less than a year and a half after forming. While any comparison is accurate only to a point, labelmates Creed represent perhaps the most ideal point of reference. Like the Tallahassee quartet, the 12 Stones assembly is founded upon the vocalist-plus-power-trio configuration and mines many of the same spots along the alternative hard rock landscape. Vocalist Paul McCoy's adept and enthusiastic delivery mirrors Scott Stapp's semi-growled singing style. And Eric Weaver's precise, fleet-fingered fretwork echoes Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti's attention to both melody and detail, lending itself easily to the alternatingly loud and soft start-stop dynamics that are now part and parcel for those populating the post-grunge playing field.

Nearly from the beginning, the lyrics of Creed were the stuff of both scrutiny and debate, due in large part to their veiled Christian references. If anything, the members of 12 Stones up the spiritual ante. Songs like "Home" and "The Way I Feel" (In the midst of darkness, Lord/ My spirit calls for you) boldly capture the album's complementary main themes of human wretchedness and divine grace. Others, such as "In My Head" and "Broken" (Daily in my sin I take your life/ I question why you chose to die/ When you knew your truth I would deny), are similarly straightforward with regard to both their candidness and their object. The group does deviate from its intrinsically melancholy viewpoint here and there. "My Life" covers the topic of making one's own decisions in life while the equally engaging "Open Your Eyes" relays the challenges associated with sharing one's faith. Likewise, the successively simmering and insistent "Soulfire" (You set my soul on fire/ You take me so much higher) is, at its core, a simple song of celebration and praise.

The numerous parallels notwithstanding, stamping the group as mere Creed knock-offs would be an incomplete description at best. In several places, McCoy manages to notch up his vocal intensity to approximate the spirited, throat-shredding wails of hardcore acts like Underoath and Zao. Conversely, other entries, like "The Way I Feel" and "In My Head," with their lilting, melodic pop stylings, could probably fly under the radar as lost Squeeze tracks with cleaner guitar textures on their choruses. Perhaps most importantly, though, the rollicking album-closer, "Eric's Song," pays convincing tribute to the band's Southern roots, anchoring its post-grunge accoutrements to the bluesy, jam-heavy workouts of artists like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Outlaws, with results the group would do well to explore on successive releases. As it stands, the 12 Stones collective boasts heaping portions of raw talent, youthful enthusiasm and pop/rock savvy. And the band's debut album stands as an impressive combination of the three.

3.5 tocks