ALBUM REVIEW: Blood Moon Rising – The Tea Party
Canada-based rock band THE TEA PARTY have spent their three-decades long career experimenting and combining unique musical sounds from each corner of the world over nine major label releases. Assessing the relationships between progressive rock, blues, industrial, and even Middle Eastern influences, their 30 years of research has culminated in the release of their latest offering Blood Moon Rising.
This 14-track LP not only features 10 original songs, but the CD version also offers three covers in the form of LED ZEPPELIN’s Out On The Tiles, JOY DIVISION’s Isolation and MORRISSEY’s Everyday Is Like Sunday, as well as a live version of the album’s second track Way Way Down. Whilst this may sound like a treat, they only come to those with patience in getting through the first three quarters of the record.
Opening track Black River stands to its namesake, its heavy southern blues vibes clearly influenced by the spiritual flow of the Mississippi River and the myth-laden bayous of New Orleans. Way Way Down also swaggers on in with attitude in line with TYLER BRYANT AND THE SHAKEDOWN’s sleazy hard rock, as both tracks follow a short and simple formula that get the record off to a promising start. Sunshower takes a buoyant and care-free turn, like taking a walk on a secluded beach during Golden Hour whilst the rest of the world is still quiet and at peace. Jeff Martin’s guitar solo gets lost in the euphoric moment of the warm sun striking across the skin as lyrics like “the rain may follow you, but the sun will shine on through” emphasise the tracks blissful aura.
As a band that boast to be ‘one of the heaviest three-piece bands you’ve ever heard’, the record begins to fall short with the entrance of So Careless and Our Love. The sweetness of the ballad threatens to undo every ounce of the hard-earned rebellion from earlier on, as the lightweight melody, layered harmonies, and chorus crescendos become tangled and interwoven with the characteristics of a COLDPLAY tune.
Despite the hope Hole In My Heart brings with the promising You Really Got Me similarities, the track only manages to lasso the heavy back for a few fleeting moments. Shelter and The Beautiful become a continuation of Our Love, the bright, open chords and flouncy nature blurring the three songs into one and the same. The tracks’ only saving grace is, again, Martin’s guitar work, the heartfelt phrasing giving a boost of personality to the song. Summer Time is also just a more upbeat version of Sunshower, as a group of friends have a good time under the comforting hug of the sunshine, the chorus line of “hey people, it’s the summertime, yes it is now” being more of an announcement than anything of substance. When the album does eventually get to the LED ZEPPELIN cover, each instrument competes with one another at the same level, the lack of layering in the mix resulting in a disheartening moment.
Ultimately, THE TEA PARTY’s individual influences may be of merit on their own, but puzzle-piecing them together into 50 minutes worth of a pleasurable journey is where the real challenge comes in. When a LED ZEPPELIN record or even a COLDPLAY album aren’t within arms reach, settle for Blood Moon Rising instead.
Rating: 4/10
Blood Moon Rising is out now via InsideOut Music.
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