Album: Shakedown
Source: Amazon.com
By: kwakerjak
At first, theSTART seems to have nothing new to offer; one would think that the market for alternative pop/rock bands with female vocalists had been cornered by No Doubt and Garbage. Of course, when you listen to this album, you quickly realize that this band has a sound just as distinct as the bands mentioned previously. Simply put, where No Doubt has (or had) their music based in ska-punk and Garbage in electronica, theSTART's roots are in heavy metal. The band came together from the remains of two other metal bands, Human Waste Project and Snot. While Shakedown! is obviously not a metal album, it cannot be denied that this is some of the heaviest pop music available today. That heaviness is especially apparent on the first two tracks, "Shakedown!" and the abso-freakin'-lutely amazing "Gorgeous," where new wave synths mix with heavy metal bass and Aimee Echo's high-pitched-but-not-quite-Gwen-Stefani vocals to create an amazing overall sound. Unfortunately, while this sound does resurface throughout the album, it is never used as effectively as it is in the first two tracks (although "Hang On Me" comes close). All in all, this CD is worth getting, if you aren't afraid to put upbeat pop music in your stereo and crank up the volume.
