THE RESISTANCE "Bag Of Bones" (Unsigned) six / ten

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Following similar lines marked out by fellow pop-rockers Bell X1, The Resistance have recently been garnering regional air-play with their first single off this debut release, "Show me a World to Love," and have supported a host of critically acclaimed acts such as Cathy Davey and Delorentos in recent times.

On first listen, Bag Of Bones is a bit of a puzzler; sounding at times like a reincarnation of Elliot Smith, the album unfortunately too often veers too close to the borders of bland, becoming another by-product of a musical age caught up in a static wreckage of tedium and disappointment.

Actually, that's a tad unfair. The Resistance, to their credit, have created an album that flows with melody, that will, if aired to the right circles, be a success, and is, in fact, rather easy to listen to. 'Taking a Story' is, perhaps, the album's finest song; lyrically strong, emotive and brimming with melody, it will, one suspects, appeal to a wide audience of fans of Irish acts such as Damien Rice and Paddy Casey.

Opener 'Better I Take A Breather' starts the album off on a lively note, blending melodic acoustic guitars with catchy pop vocals. But what follows is by and large a disappointment; the songs, though crafted quite well and easy to listen to, are too often repetitive. Lacking in variation and crying out for a frenetic thrashing of noise that never arrives, the album invariably sinks into a series of pleasant songs that, at times, touch the sounds of likes of The Fray too closely.

Still, it ends on a healthier note; 'The Water' mixes a nice fusion of violin and jigging distortion-fused guitars with singer David Patterson wailing 'and the water flows on and on and on. Similarly, finishing track 'Half the Burden' adds a smidgen of weight to an album that often seems too light in the centre.

Mark Kelleher
www.myspace.com/theresistancedublin

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