Money on the Dead

MONEY ON THE DEAD
MONEY ON THE DEAD
2009 Independent
Purchase: MySpace.com
Review by: Matt Crosslin

My first reaction to listening to this album was that this would be a group that you would probably find on Brainstorm Records, if they still existed today.  It is one of those albums that combines many of the elements that also influenced those bands from the BAI roster that you love, throws in a dash of other influences that you kind of think you know (but can’t quite put your finger on), and then avoids doing anything over-done or imitative.

Money on the Dead is slightly quirky alternative music that is not too heavy or too mellow.  In fact, I don’t know if I hear much crunch at all.  But there is still some diversity to the sounds you get here.  I would like to hear a bit more diversity from song to song here, but it’s not like they don’t have any.  I would say to just add a little more here and there, with out going over board, to take the next album to the next level.

Let’s see how they describe themselves on MySpace.  “Pop / Rock / Powerpop.”  Hmmm… yeah, I can agree with that.  Was that an organ that just started off my favorite track (“Love What’s Left”) on this disc?  Yep – nice touch – a quick hit and then on to a faster paced acoustic rock song.  That is followed by the slightly-Beatles-influenced song “The Honesty Song.”   In fact, I think most of my favorite songs from this disc are up on their MySpace page as of now, except for the song “Shadowland.”  The guitar behind the chorus is brilliant. Oh, and there is some good crunch in the last song: “I’m Beginning to See the Morning.”   Overall, a solid effort – if you like what you hear on their MySpace page, you will like the whole album.