ALBUM REVIEW: Cheap Love – To The Rats and Wolves
Much like FALLING IN REVERSE‘s wildly divisive sophomore record Fashionably Late, TO THE RATS AND WOLVES are a band that toe the line between gimmick, and guilty pleasure. The German six piece have a brash musical bravado that they’re rarely afraid to shove in your face. At times charming, at others disparaging – TO THE RATS AND WOLVES‘s second full-length record Cheap Love is a welcome reminder that sometimes variety is not the spice of life.
The opening, and title track is as much of an eyebrow raiser as anything else on this record. Mixing an electro opening with metalcore vocals and a synth pop chorus, indeed this is bold – but by equal measure its execution does little to flatter the band. Never Stop follows in a similar vein too, you’re never quite certain whether it’s supposed to be sweeter than sweet pop rock or something more alternative, regardless of the genre it lands in though – its impact ranges from little to non-existent.
It does make sense why TO THE RATS AND WOLVES would take a swing at this musical hop-scotch of styles, bands like CROSSFAITH and ENTER SHIKARI have made a career out of their electronica/metal swings. And there are moments on Cheap Love where the German six piece seem like they may be on to something, like the high octane chorus of Cure or the ravenous breakdown of Friendz – though sadly these moments are few and far between.
Produced entirely by themselves, TO THE RATS AND WOLVES‘ commendable bravery ultimately becomes their biggest undoing on Cheap Love. Instead of doubling down on their positives, the bands ship consistently gets steered in the wrong direction. Minus some heavy vocals and a breakdown, Therapy could pass as an average pop rock song while Down is lacklustre techno rock without a pulse. It’s evident throughout this record that TO THE RATS AND WOLVES would have benefit greatly from an impartial mediator reining them in when things start to get a little too experimental for their own good.
Cheap Love isn’t a career killer but it’s most definitely not a career maker either. And the diversity that TO THE RATS AND WOLVES try to include in their sound is not going to be translated to their audience. This is relatively decent pop rock with tokenistic heavy vocals and breakdowns lumped in for good measure that don’t quite fit. Some may gravitate to its fun, delicate naivety – but most will be turned off by its lack of musical structure.
Rating: 5/10
Cheap Love is out now via Arising Empire.
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