More like drizzle.
"When The Rain comes, they run and hide their heads, they might as well be dead."
Yes, it's the laziest introduction that can be made for a band called The Rain (the lyrics are taken from The Beatles song 'Rain') but when theres not been much imagination in the bands title, lets just say the laziness has been equalled out. Not only does the moniker share a resemblance to one of The Fab Fours favourite B-sides, it was also the name of Oasis before that big brother Noel came in and decided to write some tunes. So much from such humble beginnings, how does the album actually sound?
From the first few listens, it sounds exactly like what you would expect from a band called The Rain. Indie boy rock.
The opening timbre in the lead vocals voice hint at trying to sound like Kurt Cobain and there is a lot of angst on show on first impression, even the guitars jab in hurt and anger on the opening track. So far, so decent then because lets face it, as long as teenage boys and young men have problems (usually with the female of the species) then there should be boys in band expressing that pain in a musical form. Theres always going to be a market for it and The Rain may just catch a few people with this one.
And there is that suggestion of the Muse style rocker on this album, the drums try to wrestle control of the songs and certainly power the music along but the guitar always manages to steal the show.
With lyrics about "stop jacking off and burn my weed" there clearly is a slacker edge to this band that further reinforces the image about appealing to young men or lost individuals, which is fine. Unfortunately, there seems no answer or reason to be hopeful from The Rain. Its one thing to feel or catalogue another persons pain but something entirely different to provide an answer to their problems.
Musically, its well played but then again, so are most albums these days. Individually, the guitar chimes well, the bass keeps the lower end steady and the vocals, well they sound a bit whiny but that fits in with the overall feel of the album, so they cant be criticised for that.
And that's the hard part, even though theres little to criticise, equally theres barely any moment that grabs you by the balls and bellows "We're a kick arse band and you will pay attention." Rather, The Rain sound like a decent support act down your local pub and for that, theres always going to be a crowd but they're unlikely to be touching the stars anytime soon.