Review: Classics of Love-Walking in Shadows

Before this review, I will issue a warning to anyone hoping and dreaming that Jesse Michaels will return to his Operation Ivy roots, because his new project Classics of Love sounds nothing like the latter. Now that that issue is out of the way, I can focus on the review at hand.

It’s true, Classics of Love sounds nothing like Operation Ivy, and in fact it is much more reminiscent of Common Rider, Michael’s last band. Except this time, there seems to be no ska influence on the overall sound of the band. Just imagine all the more punk sounding songs on This is Unity Music and you have a decent idea of what the Classics of Love sound like. The comparison seems rather fair when you consider that and the split with Against All Authority were the last releases from Common Rider. Each had more of a punk rock sound opposed to say, Last Wave Rockers. Part of the departure from the ska-punk sound could be because this time around Michaels recruited a straight forward punk band Hard Girls from San Jose to serve as his backing band. (You might recognize the guitar player and vocalist of Hard Girls as Mike from the band Shinobu.) The term “backing band” sounds wrong to use to describe them though, because the band is not Jesse Michaels and the Hard Girls, Classics of Love is indeed its own entity.

As far as the music goes, it’s very melodic punk rock played at what seems a perfect tempo. It’s never too fast or too slow, but still holds your attention. For a band that has only been around for less than a year, they sound incredibly tight. I am sure the fact that Hard Girls have been playing longer together helps them remain tight and obviously Michaels knows what he wrote to begin with. The only song that sounds slightly ska influenced would be the last and title track “Walking in Shadows”, which features that signature Eastern sounding bass line that you can find in many Common Rider songs.

Besides upsetting all those rude boys out there, the real disappointment, for me at least is the lack of Michaels’ signature vocal delivery. Anyone who follows Michaels’ career knows exactly what I am talking about. For those who don’t know, ever since Operation Ivy, Michaels has been known to recite his lyrics like he is rapping. It is not evident on every song, but you can find perfect examples of it throughout his career. With Classics of Love though, he seems to focus more on just singing his lyrics. It works though. There is great melody within the songs that make them great for sing-a-longs and no one can get tongue tied with his quick rhymes. The lyrics are not ultra metaphoric or poetic so they won’t go over any typical punk’s head, but they are still thoughtful and what you would expect from a wordsmith as talented as Michaels.

All in all, Walking in Shadows is a great debut which was released by Asian Man Records, so you know its quality material. It fits very well with the feeling of summer time and hopefully they will get up and tour more nationally over the summer. I mean, the least they could do is play the Fest in October down in Gainesville, because I for one would love to hear these songs live and I am sure all the other devoted Jesse Michaels fans are just as eager.

www.asianmanrecords.com
www.myspace.com/classicsofloveband