Noise Ratchet

Item: Noise Ratchet
Author: Tyler Baber

(2003)

Reviewed by Tyler Baber

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Label The Militia GroupDecapolisJune 2003

emo hard rock indie rock modern rock

When San Diego band Noise Ratchet released their 2002 sophomore album Till We Have Faces on then new record label the Militia Group listeners got a thrill. It was the thrill that comes when someone "discovers" a band for him or herself, and when the band is a newish band on a newish record label the thrill is the sort of thing from which fanatics are made. If the record makes a great enough impact then the band and label can rest easy in having a small, dedicated following that will most likely grow with each successive release. This is the group of fans who join street teams and religiously dedicate time to message boards to discuss the menial goings on of their new favorite band who is probably only their favorite band because they're new. The band's new, I mean. Not the fans. This is the group of fans who, based on a decent enough label debut and a handful of compilation tracks, decide that their band can do no wrong. This is the group of fans who would write a review critic nasty e-mails if he said the band's new EP wasn't anything great. So those fans should stop reading right now.

The EP in question, cleverly titled Noise Ratchet, honestly isn't different enough from their label debut to dissatisfy the fanatics. Noise Ratchet is still in the habit of creating power radio rock influenced as much by '80s glam/hair metal riffs and melodies as they are by groups such as Jimmy Eat World. The six songs on the self titled EP are musically tight enough to prove Noise Ratchet are not talentless hacks aiming to make a fast buck by riding a quick trend. However it is quite possible that the band is making a fast buck by riding a quick trend, a theory that may be substantiated by the group's recent signing to American Recordings (Slayer, System of a Down). The vocals are still the type of melody driven radio rock that's so popular with those crazy kids of the day. So the fanatics really won't be disappointed, but when are fanatics ever disappointed in the first place?

For the most part the songs on Noise Ratchet are as driven, clean and sharp as a Van Halen single and thus tread the fine line between fun and over the top. Luckily for the guitarists (who probably listened to far too much KISS in their childhood), vocalist Joel Hosler isn't quite as tacky as David Lee Roth. Instead he's as full of self loathing and rock star poetry as Chris Carrabba or Brett Detar. Nowhere is this more evident than on the EP's token acoustic track, "A Way to the Heart."

The track was piano driven on Till We Have Faces and has undergone major renovations for the EP. It now sounds even more like the type of mix tape fluff that'll be sandwiched between that angels song from Bleed American and anything from The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most the next time some young mall-emo boy wants to impress his lady friend with the denim jacket and overabundance of eye makeup.

The final track on the EP is also its finest moment. "Desire," clocking in at just under eight minutes, is nothing short of a guilty pleasure rock ballad. While the rest of the EP's six tracks can't decide between teased big hair/flying V guitars and horn rimmed glasses/tight sweaters, "Desire" is as good a blend of '80s arena metal and '00s mainstremo as anything from a Juliana Theory album. The real beauty in this track is that it doesn't seem to try to be anything it isn't. It is the song that will have the fanatics waving lighters around when played live and will have pretentious critics like myself saying "Look! See! It's soooo cheesy!"

Guitarist Danny Lothspeich said "If you look at each of our releases, you'll notice that they are slightly different from another. That's how we progress." It is without a doubt safe to say that Noise Ratchet's self titled EP is as profound and meaningful as Lothspeich's statement.