Massachusetts quartet The Bold Type (Travis Richard, Ben Dicke, Antonia Navarro, Schuyler Whelden) have been working on their debut album for much of this year, funded in part by eager backers on Kickstarter, and it is now available for digital download as well as CD. Describing themselves as playing within the broad genre of rock'n'roll, their ten tracks show some pleasing diversity whilst avoiding disparity.
Album title and opening track 'Welcome Back' throws us some soulful vocals and little hints of Motown-esque melody, then 'Don't Be A Stranger' surprises us with a combination of rock guitar and gently harmonising "ooh"s and "aah"s. And just in case we still feel like we know what to expect, third track 'Love Is Meant To Last' goes all jazzy and signals that we should just go with the flow and throw all our musical assumptions aside for the next seven tracks.
Other highlights include 'I Won't Follow You' where a female lead vocal from Antonia shakes things up a little in a bluesy ballad; and the super-strummed shout-out 'Mind Your Business' with its amusingly nonchalant middle section with whistles, deep breaths, and a muttered urge to "keep cool" that comes just moments before it all kicks off again.
The beauty of The Bold Type's album is that it's able to show off an array of styles and sounds whilst still retaining a sense of its own theme, and the band members clearly play to their strengths throughout their music. They are confident, cool, and (it had to be said) bold.
http://theboldtype.bandcamp.com/
http://theboldtype.tumblr.com/
"Performing is the easiest part of what I do, and songwriting is the hardest" - Neil Diamond
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