As debut albums go, Red Wolf Glass promises a rosy future. Catchy melodies and neo-metal guitar, toned down a la alt-rock radio, are a sure-fire pairing for popular success.
The current public thirst for agressive male-led rock groups seems unabated, and Projektor's sound provides the perfect counterpoint.
It's not that Projektor are angry; impassioned would be a better description, but their passion is close enough to anger to fit the popular ideal. More importantly, such fervid emotion allows
for greater perspective and greater artistry than raw anger. Unlike less talented groups, who use big riffs and glitzy production to cover up their lack of musical substance, Projektor knows their way
around an axe. They're transatlantic cousins of the Catherine Wheel, channeling the guitar-pop of the Stone Roses and the shoegazing dreamy sound of Mercury
Rev, with an updated vision and a looser, more open sensitivity. A bit spacey and definitely unearthly, they write dithyrambs for the modern human. Red Wolf Glass's lyrics are
not central to the music in the same way that lyrics generally are (when they matter at all); Jahmeel Russell's words provide colourful imagery that serves as a stepping-off point for the
listener's own ideas or emotions. His metaphors are sublime for their pictorial punch: "Fingers like razors through my hair", "Chinese water torture candles", "A beach of pure emotion".
As wild as his lyrics are -- and sometimes they're almost too anguished and tormented -- you could completely ignore them and still undergo emotional epiphanies from the music.
The band is like a standard four-on-the-floor: the basic combination of soaring guitar, smashing bass and crashing drums and vocals are the basic black of their music, and their loyalty
stands them in good stead. Their musicianship may never break new ground, but it's tight enough to win your respect. They're thorough, too, exploring every musical idea at great length, with most tracks running at least five minutes. A college radio smash in their hometown of Winnipeg, they'd definitely have to trim the fat from their songs in order to make it on the air this far south -- in radioland, Washington, DC is a euphemism for hell.
I'd like to find something on Red Wolf Glass to complain about -- heck, it's
my job -- but the longer I listen to them, the harder it is to come up with negatives. Maybe the album is too short. Yeah, if they wrote more songs, I could probably think of something. I can't wait for them to try...
