For The Love - Across The Board

For The Love

​Across The Board
self-released; 2015

3.4 out of 5

By Ted Rogen
​

Rob Cook (guitar/vocals), Joel Molloy (drums), Sean Morphet (lead guitar) and Jason Hamilton (bass) are For The Love. They state on their Bandcamp page that Across The Board was the literal name they could come up with since the band goes from genre to genre. I have to say I agree with their assessment. 

Apparently the band played a lot of covers and I’ve seen time and time again that transition to original material can be disparate. Cover bands are used to playing a lot of styles and that tendency can also easily cross over to original material.

The material varies from acoustic rock to Everlast style hip-hop to country and more. In all honesty it sounds like a compilation of different bands. Either way the music will resonate more in the mainstream than the underground. There were some styles I thought the band pulled off quite well while others I wasn't feeling as much.

“The Beginning” is the first track, which revolves around atmospheric music and rapping. The song actually transitions to pop/rock at some point. Up next is “Daddy Didn't Hug Her” which is somewhere between O.A.R. and Dave Matthews Band. It’s anthemic and probably a crowd favorite when they play live.

For “Hit Me Again” the singer put on his best deep Eddie Vedder voice while “Simple Math” has a smooth, slick summertime vibe. The next track “Jammin” is a funky track with Santana-esque leads and more rapping. If you think the band is done testing genres then you're wrong. “T-a-wanna Midnights” has a lone soldier, desert thing going where the singing style comes close to talking during the verse. Unfortunately, the band’s best song is also their shortest. “Growing Up” is a sing-along bluegrass style song that works for them. The vocals not only sound less contrived but the lyrics are memorable. On top of that the string work is good. They close with “For The Love” which is an outro and happens to sound like a watered down Kid Rock song when he was doing his country thing. 

The main issue with this type of album that crosses so many genres is that it's pretty unlikely that a listener will appreciate every song and style. It’s possible but you very rarely hear of compilation albums making people's top ten. The other issue is that it also doesn’t build a foundation for the band or give us an idea of what might be on their next release.

​All that being said there are some songs that work really well on their own. It all comes down to personal preference of what style and genre you prefer. I would take a listen to not one but many of the songs to see if they are up your alley.

Become A Fan

Tweet