Soundhoose: Quarantine Psycho (DistroKid)
I have not heard any of Soundhoose's music prior to this album, so I can only assume that all of it reflects their claimed influences of (among others) Green Day, Linkin Park, and My Chemical Romance. What I hear most on this particular album (actually, more like a 28-minute, 8-song double EP) is the kind of good-time rock and roll delivered by bands like Thin Lizzy and the heavier, hook-ier side of Queen (with a bit of Nirvana thrown in). Working with mostly simple, spoken-sung lyrics and straightforward but effective rock, much of it with heavily fuzzed-out guitar, this is plain infectious fun.
Opening with the shamelessly Floydian "Welcome to Quarantine," we then move to "Devil's Angel," which is also somewhat Floydian musically, and is the "heaviest" song on the album. "Psycho" is a sort of fuzzed-out blues figure. "Rejects" takes us into more truly musical territory, and is one of the two strongest songs on the album, with a nice guitar figure. "Deja You" is bass-thumping rock, with a clever lyric. "Left Behind" and "On the Run" are good, but somewhat repetitive rockers. "Still Into You" is the most interesting and musical track, and a real stand-out; were I to release a single from this collection, this would be it.
A few quibbles. First, there is a "sameness" to the structure of all the songs. Of course, this might be seen as "stylistic" rather than as a lack of variety. Second, with an exception or two, the arrangements seem a little "hollow"; e.g., an occasional well-played, tasteful keyboard would help round out the sound. I also heard many places that really ached for a screaming guitar or keyboard solo.
But those really are just quibbles. If you like a certain kind of rock and roll, then this arguably too-short album is well worth your time.