Rockethouse

Weapons Of Mass Distortion (2005)

Jesse Raub

What do you get when you mix snotty, trashy attempts at sounding like Primal Scream with huge reverb thrown on the vocals and the guitars? A bland throwaway release from another New York hipster group.

Rockethouse's blend of *ahem* "rock'n'roll" (snicker) with "electronica" is nothing to lose your shit over. Though the opener "Temporary Glitch" sounds like an exact replica of Primal Scream, the follower "CB" is nothing more than a standard, shitty attempt to "rock out." The down-tempo "Doomsville" after that is laughably bad, and not just for the title of the song. "Lock And Load" sounds like a weak Killers B-side, while "My Clock" and "Pedestal" sounds like dime-a-dozen "edgy" "indie" bands on a major label. The album finishes out with "Depths," "Retrieve The History," "Killjoy," and "Rockethouse," which all go back to the ripping off Primal Scream formula.

Now, I'm not a huge fan of Primal Scream, but I respect their work. I like it, but I just don't own any yet. But what I do like about Primal Scream is their originality. The sound they created was in no way representative of a standard sound that had surfaced in the mainstream before. Their blend of guitars and dance music beats was fresh, original, and, not to mention, created by seasoned veterans of the musical world (check AllMusic.com if you're interested). So the very thing that I dig about Primal Scream, their originality, is the very thing that makes Rockethouse bland and not very interesting. The fact that they do copy the Primal Scream sound fairly note-by-note makes them seem to me to be nothing more than a regurgitated attempt at mimicking one's own rock heroes.