Chaser Eight – Self Titled

New Haven, Connecticut 5 piece Chaser Eight’s self-titled debut LP is an welcome journey looking back to the 1990’s and sees the band wear their influences well and truly on their sleeves. Female fronted (by the brilliant *AUDRA*), there have already been obvious comparisons made to female alt rock icons such as like Alanis Morrisette and Sheryl Crow, but in all honesty, that is a bit lazy as Chaser Eight are a lot more than just an homage to 90’s female alt rock. Their songs seem less one dimensional than early Alanis was and the songs on the records are more subtle and frankly beautiful in their construction yet simple on the ears. *AUDRA’s vocals, both sonically and in attitude owing more to Concrete Blonde’s Johnette Napolitano, Joan Jett and possibly Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes fame. These influences are front and centre on the LP’s raucous opener Lead Me Down and in the jangly pop verses of Major and Minor, both tracks standing out from the first spin. The former displaying a dark brooding attitude that is only matched by insane melodies and killer use of backing vocals and harmonies. The homage to female rock n’ roll pioneers continues on To Find Him, which shares more than a passing resemblance to The Pretenders’ Brass in Pocket, in all the right ways.

The band are very much at their best when the pace quickens and they let the rock out, with guitarists Pat Walsh and Aaron Tagliamonte (who also provides keys) displaying excellent rock n’ roll sensibilities, equally matched by the rhythm section of Billy Wang and Pete Giannini on bass and drums respectively. Nothing epitomises this better than the brilliant 3 Day Bender; a rousing call to action for a weekend of rock n roll debauchery punctuated with screeching vocals, and dirty riffs which has no right to sound as fucking awesome as it does. Just Ride picks up the mantle from here, a classic blues rock anthem featuring riffs that wouldn’t be out of place on an AC/DC album.

As good as Chaser Eight are in points on their debut record, they also struggle when the pace drops, the personality fades and the songs sound rather generic, or even worse, like a pale imitation of bands who have come before. Go Slow and Moving On both had me straining for the skip button, but the LP’s closer, I Wanna Die, despite it sounding very much like Bloodletting-era Concrete Blonde, is a glimpse into what Chaser Eight are capable of.

Chaser Eight’s self titled debut LP was released on February 17th 2015.