When a band loses half of its membership after the failure of its debut album, the possibility of a second album coming to fruition usually dwindles.
This happened to Oxford, Miss. band Colour Revolt. After the release of their 2008 debut “Plunder, Beg and Curse” failed to sell many copies despite glowing reviews from a majority of publications, the band was dropped from their label and drummer Len Clark and bassist Patrick Addison quit.
This left lead-singer/guitarist Jesse Coppenbarger and lead-guitarist/co-vocalist Sean Kirkpatrick to start anew.
The band’s first step was filling out their lineup, which added Daniel Davison (ex-Norma Jean) on drums, Brooks Tipton on keyboards, and Hank Sullivant (MGMT producer) on bass and production.
Once that was taken care of, the real production could begin.
The first noticeable trait of the second album, “The Cradle,” is that the band has changed their sound from the gritty, bluesy jams of their debut to scrappy energetic freak-outs in the form of twin-guitar attacks.
The first track, “8 Years,” gives an account of the band’s history up to this point. According to Coppenbarger, it was written the day that Clark and Addison left the band. It also follows the belief that everything that happens in life is just based on perspective, as shown in the chorus “One man’s limo is another man’s hearse,” which is repeated as a theme throughout the song.
The second song and the first single, “Our Names,” was written at a point where the band wasn’t sure that they would continue. The turning point came when they realized that the band was more important than their names and meant something to people outside of themselves, resulting in the song.
The track is a highlight of the album, featuring Coppenbarger’s strong vocals, ranging in everything from soft whispers featuring a distinctive southern twang, to soaring falsettos and gritty screams.
The track, “She Don’t Talk,” is the strongest of the album, featuring the core members soloing over each other. The song sounds like early Modest Mouse if their singer was born in the Deep South.
The song’s lyrics touch on bad communication, which in this case is between a man and a woman, but also could lend themselves to a band with members recently abandoning ship.
The closing track, “Reno,” features the band at their instrumental best. While the band typically records everything in a setting similar to a live performance, this song was recorded with separate parts layered over each other giving the track a bevy of guitars to satisfy those who listen with headphones.
While “The Cradle” may not launch Colour Revolt into super-stardom, it certainly is a step forward for a band whose future was hanging by a thread.
Each of the songs paints a portrait that the listener can sink into. “The Cradle” takes listeners to another world just like all great albums, books and movies. This album cannot be seen as anything short of a blowout victory as it is one of the best of the summer.
And this Cinderella story may also go down as one of the best of the year.