Redwalls Finally Get It Right

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 22, 2007 6:15PM

We have long been vocal critics of The Redwalls, our primary gripe being that the group never really grew out of being the Beatles cover band they started out as.

Tomorrow, the band releases it's third album, titled simply "The Redwalls," and we are pleased to report that the band has finally grown into its own identity. A mutual friend tipped us off a while ago that the group was making some serious changes in their sound, and that friend was indeed right. The vocal emulations still stride firmly on ground broken by John Lennon long ago, but there's a new swing to their sound, and a slightly glam sheen burnishing the more firmly rooted underpinnings of each song. The Redwalls finally sound like a mature rock band, carrying out a vision that is wholly their own.

The band's sound is still certainly rooted in a '70's mentality, but they've been listening more to Television (or, we suspect more probably, The Strokes). Instead of wearing the influence as a shield, the band now allows those sounds to inform their own music, without resorting to mimicry. The album charges out with the one-two punch-n-stomp of "Hangman" and "Modern Diet," briefly slows long enough to swell into the string-drenched splendor of "You Can't Forget Yourself," and continues strongly on without a clunker in the bunch.

Honestly, we never thought we'd write a review like this for The Redwalls, but we're glad we finally have a reason to. Does this mean Kill Hannah's next album might not suck either? It might be time for us to find a new nemesis.