'Get a Taste' of a great new CD
Sprung Monkey
Get a Taste
**** (out of five)
Surfdog records
By Shiley Carter
Daily Cougar Staff
Southern California has been the site where many alternative rock bands
have begun a promising career in the music business. Sprung Monkey is no
exception. The band has just released its second album, Get a Taste, through
Surfdog/ Redline Entertainment.
Photo courtesy of Surfdog Records/Redline Entertainment
Hailing from sunny San Diego, the members of Sprung Monkey
have put together a fresh, feel-good compilation of songs for their second
release, Get a Taste.
Sprung Monkey, a five piece from San Diego, has been together for a
decade now and traveled around the sunny southern coasts of California
and Australia many times. The band
has appeared on the Van's Warped Tour, ESPN's X-Games, and has toured
with Blink 182 and The Offspring.
Get a Taste is a 14-track, beautifully crafted, pure southern Californian
rock music album. The feel of the music is a mixture of pop and alternative
sounds like that of 311 or Blink
182 with a solid rock base. A little bit of punk gets in the mix occasionally
too.
"Party Like a Rock Star" is a true foot-tapping, head-grooving tune.
The vocals on this song differ a little from the others in that it starts
out with a talking groove lyrical outburst,
similar to Sublime but in a more alternative, clean, pop way.
Everything on the album is simple. But it is simple in a clear, feel-good
kind of way. The guitars are always fresh and the bass is a great lead
in many of the songs' free-flowing
sounds. The vocals add great diversity to the album. Using distortion,
rock-singing, talking and pure, refined recording, the variances in this
area are impressive.
"American Made" is a great example of the use of distortion and rock
sound this band is capable of. Steve Summers sings, "You know I love you/
You know I hate you/ You know I
need you/ But I just can't take any more."
Many of his songs are about the typical ups and downs of love or lust,
but most have a very positive feel.
The members of Sprung Monkey definitely have the Southern Californian
musical culture bred into them. Their music has a good, all-around sound
a lot of people enjoy. I would
definitely advise everyone to give Get a Taste a chance.
