The Reveling

3D Radio (2009)

Brian Shultz

The Reveling's drummer is notably the son of E Street drummer and Conan O'Brien band leader Max Weinberg. That's some nice heritage to have, but it's also kinda funny since the Reveling play a more moderately poppy punk-charged style that bears shades of pre-SideOneDummy Gaslight Anthem. Mind you, the songwriting here isn't nearly at the caliber of a "I Coulda Been a Contender" or "We Came to Dance," but 3D Radio is a promising start. It's just a tidy four-song EP that strikes upon simpler territory.

Opener "Breadline" needs to work out its dynamics a little more, but vocalist/guitarist Sean Morris has a nice amount of grit to his voice and its punchiness follows the consistent chug of things well. It's the most emotional song on the EP, but Morris holds it in finely ("The problem is that you're just my type -- / the kind that revels in your fucked up life"). You can hear the promise bubble in the rough-and-tumble-yet-yearning-for-more "The Faces We Know," while closer "A Recurrent Rescindment of Self" is like a fault-and-fracture-admitting bonus track from the Señor and the Queen sessions.

A very proficient and decent debut, but this really only seems like building blocks for the Reveling thus far.

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3D Radio EP