12 PEARLS - "Down To The Last Drop"

12 Pearls are probably best defined as "Modern Rock". At first I was leaning towards "Alternapop" but shyed away from that after hearing some of the different guitar styles later in the record. They remind me a bit of Caroline's Spine and the post-grunge movement. These guys have good song-writing skills and have some potentially in the radio market. I wanted to hear a little more power from them at times, right now they're teetering between Top 40 and Active Rock, and may get stuck in the middle if they don't lean a bit to one side. I felt songs "Like The Ocean" and "What Is True" were their strongest stuff. "Like The Ocean" was the Zeppelinesque track I eluded to earlier, and "What Is True" is a very catchy Pop Rock song. I think they're onto something here, they have today's sound down, and would be able to adjust accordingly no matter which direction mainstream takes. This one is really hard to pin down, it's one of those CD's that takes you in a lot of different directions, even though it's like something you've heard before. I guess that means they have a style of their own, which in the independent music game, can be an extremely important factor to have if you want to stand out in the crowd.

TORCH

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