Demos

Demo Review: Federal Black 40

Region: Cambs/Essex
Label: Unsigned

Formed in the summer of 2007, Federal Black 40 are on the warpath and on this showing Cambridge’s flagging rock scene is about to get a boot up the arse.

‘Manic’ starts off with a clever riff which Bruce Simpson’s drums pick up and shifts things into overdrive. Immediately Dan Hunsdon’s cracked, hearty vocals lift the whole rock element to another level. Kev Baker’s lead solo slides in and winds its way into throbbing chords. There’s an eloquent bridge to which the chorus never quite holds a candle, and the drums could do better with some neater production as they are let down by a weak sounding treble-heavy snare. A spot of bass-boost helps but it never quite gets there. ‘Better’ is on a completely different level. Quiet, soft carefully-plucked strings are supplemented by ringing top notes which back-fill the shattering, vibrant vocal. The verse is just a thing of simplistic beauty, repeated in all its glory and eventually leading into overdriven guitars and a decent spot of hefty drums and guitar wail on the solo. Harmonics pick everything up and dump it firmly where your jaw is - on the floor. It’s sounding very promising.

You can catch Federal Black 40 at the following venues.
21 March: Barfly, Cambridge
26 March: The Square, Harlow
31 March: Cellar Bar 8, Cambridge

For fans of: The Wildhearts, Stone Sour, Nickelback
Band links = Federal Black 40

Tags: demo, cd, federal black, manic, review, better, nickelback, wildhearts, stone sour

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