Me: "Wow, a 2016 hard rock record that's not
embarrassing...? Nice."
Racer: "Only the best for you."
It's decadence here at the Ripple Mansion;
it truly is. I love this life.
So, hi: I'm Horn. You may remember me from such reviews as
“Smoke Yourself Thin,” and “Get Some Confidence, Stupid!” Or such Fox Network
Specials as “Alien Nose Job” and “The Five Fabulous Weeks of the Chevy Chase
Show.” I started writing for Ripple in 2010, took the last few years off
because of work (I know it's not a real excuse for the metalhead, shut your
Goddamned face), and finally recognized the Disgusting Lack of Heavy in my
life: hence this article, and those to follow.
Anyway, let's get to it: Fragile Things are a hard rock band
from England, specifically Milton Keynes; they write the 2016 equivalent of
late-80s hard rock acts like LA Guns, Sweet FA, and most tellingly, a somewhat
now-unknown band from Nashville called Every Mother's Nightmare.
I say this because both EMN and Fragile Things use detuned
guitars (i.e., not in standard tuning, but here in D standard) and write
surprisingly awesome riffs (especially for a hair/glam metal band, which is
clearly what Fragile Things aspire to emulate).
Broken Sun is a self-financed, four-track EP. Opener
"The Enemy is I" sounds like Metallica covering Faster Pussycat:
sweet blues-ish riffs over a memorable hook. This would've been Alice in Chains-y-heavy
in 1989, and is still pretty awesome in 2016, where is more obviously hard rock
and not, say, "metal."
Track two, "Open Cage," is like Love/Hate if they
abused meth instead of pot and booze (complete with memorable gang chorus);
track three, "Broken Sun," is the BulletBoys at their most
adventurous, and closer "So Cold" is a lost Lynch Mob track: singer
Richie Hevanz even sounds like Oni Logan, come to think of it.
Anyway, by this point you know goddamn well if you're into this.
If you are, getchu some.
-Horn
Comments