Realism in raw rock

By Meg Walsh

Published Aug. 24, 2007

In 2004, one of the finest bands out of Brooklyn, N.Y., The Honorary Title, released its debut album and exposed its style of raw and truthful rock 'n' roll.

Jarrod Gorbel, the thin, talented and slightly mulleted frontman, had a deep voice that came into my ears and straight to my heart, and I became a lifelong fan. With the upbeat rock of "Bridge and Tunnel" and relatable honesty of "Revealing Too Much" and "Cut Short," The Honorary Title is a band that is easy to love.

Its sophomore release, Scream and Light Up the Sky, is better produced than its debut, but it's not over-produced, so it still possesses the raw rock sound The Honorary Title is loved for.

The opening track, "Thin Layer," is the perfect song to hook someone who has never listened to the band before. A dramatic buildup is followed by Gorbel's low and mighty crooning about truth and is quite powerful. The first five tracks are enough to win people over for the album.

Following "Thin Layer" is "Stay Away," a musically simple song of warning. The lack of complex background music makes Gorbel's deep, unique voice stand out even more and gives an importance to his words as he sings, "Stay away from me now/Unless you're going to see me out."

This is followed by the album's first single, "Untouched and Intact," which is upbeat and has a similar pace and feel to "Bridge and Tunnel" from Anything Else But the Truth. Gorbel's vocals sound a little more stressed on this track, and he strays away from his typical style of singing, which sounds more like spoken word.

The next track, "Stuck at Sea," is an almost danceable track with a loud, steady bass and uplifting guitar. It has one of the catchiest choruses I have heard in a long time.

The fifth track, "Far More" showcases Gorbel's ability to write and perform a beautiful, slow track without sounding whiny. The song is mighty and mellow, and the slow, easy rock played on the drums, along with organ played by Aaron Kamstra, is first-rate.

But the album does have its downsides. The boredom of the crucial final track, "Even If," is more than disappointing — it is offensive. Such an impressive band should end its album on an equally impressive note.

Although the music and production quality of this album is greater than Anything Else But the Truth's, only a handful of the songs are as good as the many highlights from its previous album. There are no lines that top, "We can be like onions and peppers in a sleeping bag fajita," from "Cut Short," but it can be hard to top the near perfection of the band's first album.

Nonetheless, the band shows a definite improvement.