More than Adequate!
The music industry has a million bands all striving to make a living doing what they love best, some bands notice trends, or jump on the already successful coat-tails of others, whilst others dare to come out with original ideas of their own, and it's in the latter where we find Welsh-wizards Adequate Seven.
First song, and a past single release 'Splitting Up', is a little Indie with a sudden brass section giving us the eyebrow raises, then a chorus that is a little bit Fall Out Boy and you suddenly realise what a good song this is! 'Head Up High' has definite 80's ska influences, whilst 'Now It's Time' is a rap/crossover track with hints of Crazy Town.
There is such a cocktail of styles that you find yourself holding your breath at the beginning of each song wondering what genre you are going to hear next. 'Across The Bridge' is a Red Hot Chilli Peppers song with a slightly hardcore chorus. 'Set Your Sights' has a great sing-a-long chorus and verses that could come straight from a Head Automatica track.
The screaming and angst-ridden 'King Leopold's Ghost' is a lot like The Used, and you can almost see how the album progresses. For all of the different styles, the album has had the track arrangement well thought out. This album 'Here On Earth' starts off with two fairly mellow and inoffensive indie tracks then goes slightly ska and rap, before introducing some heavier guitars and some screamo vocals. Things, however, go funky again for 'Seven Mics For Seven Brothers', whilst 'LIAR' has a great drum beat at the beginning and turns into a slightly punky number and peaks with a shout-a-long chorus!
Heavy bass lines and quick riffs start 'Gotta Stay Focused' as we are told to' "Fight fire with fire!", however suddenly we are hit with 'Like It Or Not' which has such an infectious bassline that you will be humming it and moving around in a way that quick frankly isn't legal. It's a funky rap/soul number, and I urge them to release this as a single, it's that good. With a second female vocal it gives it a party feel, especially with the lyrics of, "Dumb muthufuckers won't leave me alone//spike my drinks//jump my bones//I tell ya I ain't goin' out like that//I know who you are and where it's at!" My, my, my...The album closes with a couple more funky/rap numbers with hardcore chorus' and balls as big as King Kong's.
It's no surprise that Adequate Seven have shared a stage with the likes of the great Cypress Hill, the strong Hundred Reasons, and, er, that spoilt brat Kelly Osbourne! This musical kaleidoscope of styles could well be too much for some people and there will be some folks that concentrate too much on the funk/rap elements, and not on the fact that even within these laid back tunes, these guys from Cardiff can still belt out a hard rocking sound!
So a week before a 26 date UK tour like some guy Anon once sang, "They've got the whole world in their hands...!"