Comes With The Fall - The Year Is One
(DVL)
Second and a half record for this engaging L.A. act, most notable for the fact that they toured as Jerry Cantrell's warm-up act and then as his actual band (saw The Odds do that with Warren Zevon once). The sound is a thoroughly unique collision of er, Collision (great ignored Sony act from the early '90s), Alice in Chains, King's X and Soundgarden with a large chunk of retro, all topped with the vocals of William Duvall who does it all like a starry star, from metal through Manic Street Preachers, Freddie Mercury, Thom Yorke and Lenny Kravitz. Comes With The Fall is true electric crackly power trio magic, mellowed with a no-hurry sense of the blues at times, but usually rocking these thick tribal almost stoner-ish riffs through sparkly production and an alternative sense of smart song that should have these guys all over the radio. I could say the highlight is Duvall's multi-tiered, effervescent vocal flight deck, but that would be shortchanging this whoop ass groove class rhythm section (Bevan Davies on drums, Adam Stanger on bass) who Bonham/Jones power everything grand and timeless. Only complaint: maybe one too many "sensitive" numbers and perhaps too strict an adherence to the power trio format and its limitations, although limited, this ain't. See 'em at www.comeswiththefall.com. I doubt they had much opposition securing that URL.
Rating 8