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Broken Ohms Love the Nightlife

Not sure what this has to do with jizzing in the bed, but it's a cool cover anyway.If there’s one thing I hate, it’s people who rip on unsigned bands. In all but the most extreme of circumstances, the reviewer in question or the drunk guy at the show is being a douche. As such, when I tell you that I’m not really all that into Halifax, Nova Scotia independent rockers Broken OhmsNocturnal Emissions — despite Bats and bees. Someone needs to clarify the facts of life here.both their name and that of the seven-track offering — understand it comes after several listens and heartfelt consideration over whether it’s better to be honest or to blindly support self-releasing musicians. Still up in the air on that one.

Nocturnal Emissions clocks in at 31+ minutes, so call it an EP if you want, but it’s long enough to be a full-length (lest we forget that Slayer‘s Reign in Blood lasts a meager 28 minutes), and Broken Ohms‘ sound rests comfortably in the semi-fuzzed more commercial regions of heavy rock. Like a blending of Queens of the Stone Age and Soundgarden, the latter especially in the occasionally soaring/searing vocals of Peter Hubley, they energetically plow through opening duo “Choix” and the catchy “So Mean” showcasing rich tones in the guitars of Troy Wilson and the bass of Stephen MacDonald and able-bodied percussion from Vince Martin (since replaced by Nicolas Michaud). On paper, it all seems to work.

So what’s the problem? Well, the vocals come from the post-John Garcia school of stretching the vocal cords near the point of snapping them and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. “Telepsychopathic” follows an easy enough groove, but the more Cornell-styled echoing approach — nothing against the echo, actually; a lot of Hubley‘s singing on Nocturnal Emissions could stand some reverb — of “For the Air” and the higher pitched moments are cringe-worthy, at least partially because of the mix which features the words like Brian Posehn‘s pants feature the dong. Couple that with the sudden maybe-Christian bent of “Fear of God” (reminiscent of Seemless) and the oddly fuzzless indie of “Missing,” and parts of the record just feel out of place. On a CD only half an hour long, that makes a big difference.

Hey you, up front. Nice beard. (Photo by Kelly Lynn Martell)They offer a more stoner-ish closing with the wah bass of “Sleepytown” and end the record on a hopeful note, but by then, Nocturnal Emissions has already proven itself uneven and inconsistent. I’m all for a band varying their sound, but the fit of their different takes is awkward here — perhaps if “Missing” came earlier in the track listing it would work better, I couldn’t really say. This is Broken Ohms‘ second indie release following 2007’s Ghost Effects, and while I can’t accuse it at all of overstaying its welcome, the issue seems to be more establishing that welcome in the first place.

But, again, that’s me, and even though I wasn’t feeling this particular album, I’d still encourage you to at least give Broken Ohms the support of checking out their MySpace or one of the many YouTube videos posted on their Facebook page. Maybe you’ll feel differently and leave a comment telling me my head’s up my ass for not slobbering all over Nocturnal Emissions. If you dig it, good for you and good for the band. I wish you both all the best.


Broken Ohms on MySpace

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