the monarchs - shadows Of Our Time

The Monarchs

Shadows Of Our Time
self-released; 2014

3.7 out of 5

By Eva Cantillo

An alternative rock band from Kansas City gives its audiences an unconventional take on rock music. While listening to The Monarchs' latest album Shadows Of Our Time, I hear influences from genres like blues, jazz and a bit of punk. Bands like The Heavy, Radiohead, and a rock version of Fat Freddy’s Drop could be brought up in a conversation describing The Monarchs. Overall, The Monarchs maintain a very vintage sound yet transcend their style into the contemporary sphere.

The track “Dancing with Maya” starts off with a trippy and soothing yet wildly seducing guitar intro and soon this intro transforms into something a bit darker and by this time you’re sucked in and its too late. “Discover your world, take care of your world,” are eerily barked as the slightly sweet and deranged melody makes a return. The following song “Projector,” starts off with a jazzy vibe and is then accentuated by some heavy guitar riffs. As the song goes on it starts to show its true personality, which is a crazy one. As the infectious beat draws on, the song becomes so catchy and definitely one to dance to. The horns and drums give the song a unique and delightful character. This song really needs to be heard in order to understand.

A more mellow and romantic song is "Silver Fractal." It has a very chill vibe that would be perfect for lounging by the sand. The lyrics draw some pretty metaphors that further elevate the experience of the song; “Everyone inside each other, a thousand hands melting into one.” The next track “Time” brings you back to earth as it is a simple acoustic track with a beautiful piano riff saturated with poetry and emotion.

The sound quality on this album could be improved because some of the lyrics and percussion get a bit muddy and suffer from a lack of better production. Yet this is a minute detail as the album is fun to listen to and spans many different sentiments and scenarios as well as plenty of goodvibes. The music is not your ordinary and Shadows Of Our Time is a great listen for anyone into contemporary alternative rock.

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