Fivespeed Slows Down

Although Fivespeed’s first major label release Morning Over Midnight could be referred to as Nu-Metal, it actually sounds more like 90’s alt-rock with a twist. The band is often compared to their former tour partners Jimmy Eat World and Breaking Benjamin, however Fivespeed offers something a little more worthwhile. The title track on Morning over Midnight is the best example of the band’s Nu-Metal surpassing talent. The song’s vocal harmonies are on par with System of a Down, whose vocal sound is sought after and often imitated. This record also has a good variety of style, an uncommon characteristic in Nu-Metal. “Fair Trade” and “Wait Forever” are reminiscent of the Offspring and Bush while “Blame it on You” is basically a power ballad. In “Lost Vegas,” one of the better songs on Morning Over Midnight, Fivespeed’s vocalist Jared Woosley shows off his ability to scream and fiddle with puns! The band even experiments with a quasi-indie sound on “Touch of One,” but that song, like every other, breaks into an unfortunately quintessential Nu-Metal chorus.

The band’s variety may be their most redeeming factor because there is a song for practically every taste on this record. Woosley’s vocal tone is somewhat cliché in that it sounds hoarse and overused like that of many other alt-rockers, however that is more a matter of personal preference. The last track on the album, “Misery Loves Company,” though unoriginally titled, sounds quite different from the rest of the album. It’s soft yet driving with reverb-filled vocals and violins. Yet it seems that the idea of putting the “soft one” at the end of your record is a severely over used Nu-Metal technique and for that and their generic sound briefly punctuated by marks of originality, Fivespeed may never make it into second gear.