By David O’Neill
Kent melodic rockers Collateral released their second album Should’ve known better last Friday and are currently on tour supporting FM on their 40th anniversary ‘Old Habits Die Hard’ ÜK run.
I was impressed with the band when I saw them at Steelhouse in 2021 where they really caught the attention of the crowd and yours truly. Their style is classic melodic rock with clear lyrics and solid instrumentation.
From the first track, ‘Glass Sky’, i’ts obvious the guys are going to grab your head by both ears and shake you until you like it – and, believe me, it doesn’t take long. I have a penchant for a musical style where the lyrical content, and hence the voice of lead singer, is sitting high in the mix but superbly supported by great musicianship. There is plenty of that to listen to as well.
The vocals of Angelo Tristan have been likened to many melodic rock front men and he has the potential to be a great front man, given the right breaks. More than adequately supported by the booming rhythm section of Jack Bentley-Smith on bass and Ben Atkinson on drums throughout the album, the departure of the original guitarist has not left too big a hole as Louis Malagodi has stepped up to the axe hand position with more than adequate aplomb. As bands mature and life starts throwing curveballs, the musical writing matures and this is shown in the ballad ‘On the Long Road’ which appears to be about loss and grief.
Whilst this is a well written and performed track, the rest of the album is much more upbeat and typical rock. There is not one bad track. However, there is one ear worm guitar riff in the first verse of ‘Elysium’ and recurs throughout the verses that will have you struggling for a bit to identify where you have heard it before. On another note, I thought I had a very broad vocabulary, but I have never heard the word ‘Elysium’ before, (apparently is is a fictional place of ideal happiness).
In all honesty, this is a great album, beautifully mixed and mastered and really well written and performed.
To return to the ear worm, when you hear it, it sounded like “Power of Love” by Huey Lewis and the News-go on disagree with me! Even my wife identified it!
- ‘Should’ve Known Better’ is out now.
- Collateral support FM at Oran Mor in Glasgow on Friday (30 May) and The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen on Saturday (1 June).
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