CD Review: We Are I - We Are I

I know I have started CD reviews in similar fashion, but once again, I must ask "We Are I"? Without wishing to offend anyone, I have to say that is not a terribly good band name. Name aside, this is a band that caught me slightly off guard. This self titled six song EP is deceptively good. This is a band that could crossover and draw in fans from a variety of sources. They practice an inventive brand of melodic rock that has a lot to offer.

When the CD arrived on my doorstep, I remember looking quizically at the cover, I couldn't quite make out what it was. It is a dark cover with "We Are I" emblazoned across the top, beneath those words appears to be a series of grey streaks on a field of black. I looked closer and say that it was in the shape of a person sitting, looking down with with his feet together, knees up and arms straight down. What difference does that make? Not much, I just thought it was an odd cover, and rather sparse considering the carefully layered sound of the music.

As the opening track, "One Choice," began playing I was all set to dismiss them out of hand. It was a nicely produced, melodic rock track that seemed all set for the pop-rock radio station. It had a nice sound, but it also had a rather generic feel on first listen. The second track, "Inside," wasn't much better, it had a diffent cadence than then the opener, but it also had that radio styled sound. Now there is nothing wrong with being a radio song, I can respect good songs in that vein, but my tastes tend towards the non-radio styled cuts.

Now, after those first two songs, I was not holding out much hope for the rest of the six song set. Much to my surprise, track three, "Sorry," struck a chord in me. It was not terribly different from the first two, aside from the liberal use of acoustic guitar, but it really got under my skin and forced me to like it. It is a sweet sounding song with a nice melody. Then, something even more surprising happened, suddenly We Are I got heavier, more inventive, and a hell of a lot more interesting. The melody was still there, but there was a lot more crunch to the guitars, a bit more double bass, and a general inventiveness that demonstrated a versatility that was hidden by the opening radio rockers.

We Are I completely won me over with the second half of the EP. These three songs showed a band that has vision, a band that is versatile, a band that can play to these different areas and still sound like the same band. This is what I meant about the potential to draw fans from differet genre enthusiasts. There are elements of pop-rock, progressive, hard rock, metal, all blended with melody.

They are led by vocalist Jay Staples, who has a very interesting, clean sounding voice that reminds me of Brandon Boyd (Incubus) and James Labrie (Dream Theater). Backing him are guitarist Rich Chamberlain, bassist Keenan Wakem, and drummer Ralph Arsenault.

Bottomline. To say I was surprised would be an understatement. Following the surprise of the final trio of tracks, it allowed me to listen to the openers with new ears, allowing me to uncover the fantastic melody to be found. This is a band that I have to say keep an eye on, they will surprise you and have the sound that could take them far.

Recommended.