Good, and so nearly great!
Hailing from the country of alleged sheep fiddlers, which of course is Wales and not Australia, My Alamo easily shrug off any naïve comparisons to fellow countrymen Stereophonics and Lostprophets, with a hard rock, and full throttle sound likened more to Foo Fighters or Stone Sour.
First song, 'My Friend Said' starts off with metal guitar riffs straight out of the 80's which seem to be coming back into fashion now, and the sound is a little like other great British bands Skirtbox mixed with 12 Stone Toddler. Next we have the sleazy-driven lyrics of, 'Pornography' which pulsate and pump out riffs in a testosterone-spurting anthem that is more hard rock than sleaze in the sound of the song. It's a real corker and a fine example of the band rocking out and having a good time.
There is certainly a lot of passion here, and the band seem so musically polished that they positively gleam from every pure. 'In The Blood' is a little more thoughtful coming across like a middle-of-the-road Soundgarden mixed with Pearl Jam. It's, therefore funny as you may think that the musical values mix the good time hard rock of the 80's and early 90's with some almost grunge-influenced guitars and vocals, so it is of no surprise that the next song is called, '1994' a year which had these musical transitions when things shifted from Hollywood to Seattle.
'I'm Not Your Enemy' is a little more like Puddle Of Mud, whilst, 'Fire It Up' shows promise with '70's guitar riffs but never quite builds up to an anthem chorus that is expected. The guitars have a tendency to be a little too fuzzy. It's interesting as you carry on listening to the songs later on that this can almost be the bridge between grunge and emo, after the initial hard rock start, which although appears as the backbone, there is more emphasis on lyrics than musical melodies. 'Dirty Water' has a chorus that seems slightly familiar without being one that I can put my finger on. 'I Get Me' is slightly more Foo Fighters mixed with Funeral For A Friend, whilst 'Arabella's Dying' could be Muse trying to be Alkaline Trio, which is thoughtful, dark but endearing all at once.
Last song, 'The Undisguised' is a well crafted dirty rock song that has hooks and a catchy feel without being too obvious. There are breaks, pauses, thick bass lines, chugging guitars and over lapping vocals. It's a nice way to finish, however there is also a hidden song which turns things around slightly with pianos and keyboards giving it a musical sound like Matt Skiba's, side-project Heavens.
My Alamo are one of those new bands that you can understand why people will be getting excited about them. They possess most of the attributes for a decent cool and hip band, and there are flashes of what the band will evolve into, however for me this album is nearly very good, however possibly only three tracks really standout including the fantastic, 'Pornography', leaving too many songs that although up against a lot of other bands wipe the floor with them, they don't propel this album as much as I'm sure the follow up will.
Think of a well produced and highly capable indie band, then inject some bigger balls and dirty rock'n'roll roots to them and you will have the sensational, My Alamo. Nearly there, but not quite.