Review | Album review: Against the Current have the rebel chic pose down pat
New York trio, who play Hong Kong soon, make nauseatingly inoffensive and radio-friendly power pop with a feisty veneer
In Our Bones
Fueled by Ramen
Formed in 2011, ballsy pop-rock trio Against the Current, who will make a stop at Mong Kok’s MacPherson Stadium on September 16, announced their arrival on the rock scene with a well-conceived onslaught of YouTube cover versions. From the opening of Running With the Wild Things, the fiery lead track of their debut album, In Our Bones, it’s obvious the clean-cut New York threesome’s flavour of rock leans more towards adrenaline power pop than anything Keith Richards would drink to. Like much pop-rock, these 12 tracks possess a clichéd, spirited, us-against-them attitude and, built on simple, catchy structures, are designed to draw attention to the raspy vocals of Chrissy Costanza. Perfectly mixing dynamic verses and soaring singalong choruses (One More Weekend, Young & Relentless and the polished arena anthem Forget Me Now) with punchy angsty ballads (Demons, Wasteland), In Our Bones is nauseatingly inoffensive and radio-friendly. Still, it should please many a feisty teenage “rebel”, much to their middle-class parents’ disgust.
