The Commuters’ debut album “Rescue” dropped four months ago and incase you’ve not heard it you should really take a chance to give them a whirl. A funky, grungy uplifting rock band its nice to have a new rock band that’s not going for the middle of the road approach
“As I Make My Way” opens the album as a punchy uplifting anthem. The vocals are strong, the chords are familiar but have a new arrangement to them and it’s just got a really infectious bounce to it and although it revels in its rough guitars it’s still very much single material. “Lines On Your Hands” crosses the line between the good old late 90’s rock anthems that took over the music scene for a little while. It reminds me of something Whetus or a more mature Blink182 would make. Title track “Rescue” is a delight with some excellent lyrics and really showcases the cracking vocal delivery of frontman Zeeshan as the song builds and builds to its lighter swaying finale. “Hope To Be” is a sweet track with some excellent guitar harmonics being brought to the foreground to let the emotion seep out.
“Take a Step Back” completely changes dynamic by bringing in piano and switching over to acoustic guitars. Zeeshan’s vocals suit this style well too as the track slowly wraps around you and builds and is reminiscent of classic Coldplay. “Great Escape” solidifies The Commuters ability to produce a stonking ballad with a particularly epic second half that absolutely blasts to life and could be the soundtrack to many a sad film scene I’m sure.
At risk of getting too soppy “Kneeling” then brings in a thumping beat as the spacious yet clean track almost touches on Chilli Pepper guitars but with their own little twist on things. “We Are Breathing” rocks out the traditional blues chords for the most straight forward single track on the album which I’d recommend as a great starter point to the band. “Fallen From Grace” is a wonderfully downbeat acoustic rock track with lots of layering on the backing vocals and keyboards. What I do find is that lead vocalist Zeeshan is able to almost change his voice to suit the style of the song. Instead of the croaky emotion of earlier tracks here its smooth and whimsy. That’s quite an achievement.
“Bombs Away” is a real rock out anthem and good for the mosh pit as the band do their best Americana impression before the closer “You’ll Stay Right Here” is a dramatic ballad with synth strings, pianos and marching band drums to really hit home its the curtain call. It different to the rest of the album and again showcases the band doesn’t sit on a certain sound for too long.
Amazingly “Rescue” is utterly free! For being a freebie it’d be utter madness if you didn’t pick this album. On its own merit though, The Commuters have made a solid splash into the rock pond. It’s difficult to distinguish yourself in this field but with chunkier, rougher guitars, a vocalist that seems to swap voiceboxes on demand and some feel good anthems – The Commuters have you covered!