One Day Late

One Day Late "One Day Late"

There has been an uprising in young talent trying to give a rebirth to the old fashioned hard rock sound. Back in the days when The Doors played a song like Roadhouse Blues and you believed every word Jim Morrison sang, or when all ZZ Top wanted was some Tush; this was a time when a rock standard was a good badass guitar riff and a good groove in the back ground and a singer with some balls who you’re not sure whether to be scared of or be best friends with. Every now and then there is a slight murmur from modern rock bands by releasing the odd song that has that old style vibe to it, but lately there have been a few bands, particularly relative unknowns, whom have found a way to harness this sound. Some even do it quite well.


Take Edmonton rockers One Day Late. Winners of Edmonton’s 2013 “Artists to Watch”, the band has a recently released self titled album under their belts. Recorded at the legendary Warehouse studio in Vancouver, which is where such classic albums by the likes of Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet and Mötley Crüe’s Dr. Feelgood were born (to name a VERY few of the many artists that have recorded there).


The album starts off immediately pounding, with Get To You; a head banging cowbell driven number. It sets the tone for the listener in terms of the album, topped with a bluesy not over the top guitar solo that has more feeling to it than the tasteless showy guitar solos that most guitarists seem to be over using lately. Lead vocalist Elton Davidge doesn’t sound completely comfortable singing this number. Thankfully this is the only time on the whole album that such can be said.


The album only continues its onslaught, with Smile For Me’s addicting “Hey!” chant and its drum-driven rhythm and badass barroom vibe. Follow Me also carries the same feel, minus the “Hey!” chants and replacing it with a Joe Walsh-esque guitar riff.


This barroom attitude only continues on the even faster paced Hotel Charlie, this time adding one hell of a guitar riff over another. This is the kind of track you blast driving down (or up) the summer highway with the windows rolled down. And after you finish blasting that down the highway, just wait until Full Throttle. As the title would suggest, as well as its Ignition interlude, this song is, in somewhat of a cliché, the soundtrack to a nice fast drive away from any such troubles you may be trying to get away from.


Crazy has a bit of a dirty feel to it, similar to that of the early days of hair metal in the early 80’s, before the genre became somewhat of a joke. This song, though a hard hitter just like every other one, concentrates more on the singing than any other song on the album. This seems to be the best song on the album to sing along with.


The album ends with Stick of Dynamite. I guess with a title like that the band is trying to end with a bang. Well it is hard to not end an album such as this with a bang, and this song is certainly no exception. After an almost apocalyptic intro, the song starts to gallop. It begins to feel like you’re a hard rock cowboy on your horse firing your guns in the air. It features the most melodic and musically intelligent guitar work on the album, from the previously mentioned galloping sound, to the relentless guitar riff heard throughout the song and it’s not one but two melodic guitar solos.


One Day Late’s self titled debut provides a collection of bona fide roadhouse rockers built for the rock and roll rebel in all of us. It’s not the longest of albums, clocking in just barely under a half an hour through nine songs (including the interlude), but it gets straight to the point. It starts off hard and ends harder, leaving us wanting more, as any good album should.


ALBUM HIGHLIGHT


“Here I Stand” –­ It was hard not to pick Stick of Dynamite as the highlight, but the melodies of Here I Stand, the albums second track, make this song a must listen to any first time listener. The song goes from starting off like a western movie soundtrack before pounding its way in to by far the best chorus on the album. It may or may not be the best song from the album, but it will give any first time listener an idea of what they are in for. A live video by the band can be seen here.




FINAL RATING


7.5 (Out of 10) - Phil Lisotti

One Day Late is a hard rock band from Edmonton, Alberta. The band features Elton Davidge on vocals, Kyle Ginn and Dustin Grunninger on Guitar, Eric Ginn on Drums and Dwight Werbicki on Bass.

They have recorded their debut album in Vancouver, BC with producer, Eric Mosher.

You can buy the album here: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/one-day-late/id647878693?ign-mpt=uo%3D4

The album starts strong with “Get To You”, which in my opinion is the perfect song to get someone into your music. It’s heavy and full of energy. The vocals are perfect, and the beat is contagious.

Next goes on to “Here I Stand”, which reminds me more of 90’s rock still has that energy I just spoke of. In my opinion, it sounds similar to Metallica.

I’m not going to touch on every song, but I want to touch on two more songs that really stuck out in my head.

“Crazy” is my favorite on the album. The vocals are almost hypnotizing at the beginning of the song, and the lyrics really keep you listening. On top of that, all the instruments sound perfectly together in this song. Great song, in all.

The other song that really stood out for me was “Stick of Dynamite” which in my opinion features the instruments more than the vocals. Don’t get me wrong, the vocals are still amazing. But the guitar really takes over in this song and you can hear the skill behind it.

The whole album does what an album should do, shows you all sides of a band and makes you immediately want to listen again. I must say that the guys from One Day Late did an awesome job putting together the track list for this album. - Jenna Melanson