Local trio fuses rock and techno

Take a little rock and a little techno. Add them together, and sprinkle a little bit of local on top, and you'll have The Follow.

By Meg Walsh

Published Nov. 11, 2005

Local trio The Follow is here to lead another generation into the world of rock.

The group, composed of Troy Rickertsen on vocals and guitar, Amy Rickertsen on bass and fatar and Mat Matlack on drums and loops, has released its latest album, Up With the Sun, which demonstrates some of the rock group's greatest strengths along with a few vocal and lyrical flaws.

The album starts off with the track "Heart of Joy," which has an excellent intro followed by the driving sounds of the bridge. Right away, the members of The Follow demonstrate their musical abilities, which stay strong throughout the album.

The lyrics, however, get repetitive as Troy says the title of the song over and over toward the end. Some of the lyrics of the album are a little unoriginal and boring, such as those on "Back" with a repeated chorus of "back to the heart, back to the soul, back to the love, we're going back home." The song doesn't have many other lyrics, except this poorly written chorus. In "Anything At All," Troy begins chanting, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I believe," which sounds more like gospel than rock.

Luckily, the amazing musical talent of The Follow overshadows the slight flaws of the album's lyrics.

The intro for "Sing" is interesting with a hard rock feeling similar to Alkaline Trio's latest release but with an original flare. All of the songs on this album have a great feel. The music is unique and upbeat and is the album's true strongpoint. The uniqueness of the joy heard in the music gives Up With The Sun a refreshing feel in a world of rock bands that sound depressed or full of rage.

In the song "Burning Vision," the guitar work is amazing, and the techno intro is excellent. Again, this song is light and borders on bouncy. The song "Somewhere Else" also has this same great techno feel.

Troy's vocals are reminiscent of the lead singer of Godsmack who has a whiny, mystical-sounding voice.

It is an interesting mix to have these melancholy vocals singing words of hope to a cheery guitar rift. The whining sound of his voice can grate the nerves, but it is an interesting sound.

The Follow mixes the sound of feel-good guitars, techno-pop grooves and unique-sounding vocals to give Up With The Sun its own original sound.