Neon Blonde – Chandeliers In The Savannah

I’m not a fan of the Blood Brothers. In fact, I find it hard to listen to a song by them in its entirety and I never knew why so many people loved Crimes. Now, that’s not saying they are the worst band out there, there’s tons of bands that are a million times worse. It just that I never got into them. I’m sure if I looked hard enough I might find one or two songs which I would learn to love by them, but I just haven’t looked hard enough. Anyway, the fact that I really don’t like The Blood Brothers made it hard for me to get excited for Neon Blonde – who’s promotional push was the fact that its the Blood Brothers– alter ego.

Vocalist Johnny Whitney and drummer Mark Gajadhar work together to create one crazy, random and sporadic album with Chandeliers In The Savannah. The eleven track album is raw and fresh, almost totally untouched by any producing as its churning, plucking guitar riffs slam straight into your unsuspecting ear drums. It seems as if they don’t know what to do with each song, and that they are battling between each other to each make a even louder noise than the other. Layered throughout the back is rickety drum machines, chunky and choppy guitar riffs and the occasional piano ballad. But still, the main driving point in all the songs comes in the form of Whitney’s vocals, and while Blood Brothers fan may find comfort in its familiarity, I find it disturbing. His wails are whiny, his screams agonizing without being moving and the seemingly unstructured harmonies just makes me cringe. They just aren’t the right type of vocals for me.

When I first saw the album, I really wasn’t expecting much and listening to the album didn’t prove me wrong. While some people will tremble at their knees at the sound of this Blood Brothers alter-ego, it just doesn’t do anything for me. Although, I will say one thing: none of it has forced me to reach for the skip button yet. At times I’ve felt the urge, but nothing has been too painful to sit through.