Band: Advocate
Title: I’ll Be There
Label: N/A
Release Date: 2009
Review By: Scott L
Tracklisting:
01. I’ll Be There
02. Hypnotize
03. Suicide Notes
04. Road To Damascus
Advocate is a 4-piece from southwestern Pennsylvania that plays a familiar brand of modern rock. Their sound is somewhere along the lines of Submersed meets Five Bolt Main. They definitely have a great sound and lots of potential but are hampered by the production values on this 4-song EP. My main beef was that the effects on the vocals make them sound hollow most of the time. On top of that, either the vocal and instrument tracks weren’t synched up quite right or everything was recorded all at once and someone’s timing was off.
Production issues aside, because, hey, indie is indie and we love it for what it is… for the most part I liked what I heard. It’s good rock that’s meant to be played loud… and I can certainly appreciate that. I think that time and cash could solve the majority of the issues I have with this release. And obviously I’m not talking about cash coming my way… but rather going into the production budget.
Lyrically, Advocate is pretty straight forward. While not the most creative, they don’t shy away from using some spiritual imagery. The songs tend to be somewhat repetitive lyrically and could stand for a little more fleshing out in that department. But for the most part the messages come through pretty clearly. The song “Suicide Notes” says, “every day I become more lonely / I just want someone to hold me / someone to show me that there’s still hope / someone please show me that there’s still love / show me there’s someone up above / who still cares about me”.
The standout track for me was the EP opener, “I’ll Be There”. A good steady rock song with a low heaviness that builds throughout the duration of the song.
This is a great start and the passion is obviously there. But if these guys are gonna separate themselves from the rest of the pack, they’re gonna need to throw a couple curve balls into the process instead of just toeing the party line.
Overall: Advocate’s 4-song EP “I’ll Be There” isn’t without it’s problems, but it still shows a good deal of potential. I look forward to hearing more from these guys in the future. Hopefully the near future.
www.myspace.com/advocaterocks
