“Mary Star of the Sea” is the much anticipated debut release from the band Zwan, whose name comes from the ancient Viking word for “Billy Corgan’s first solo album.” The former Smashing Pumpkins front-man has assembled an almost all new band, with almost the same old sound. Corgan knows all too well what every musician realizes at some point, that a good drummer is not something you give up lightly. So Jimmy Chamberlain is still the man on drums with the rest of the band made up of a bunch of Chicago indie rockers. Zwan was going to create a wall-of-sound, 70’s style arena rock that would pound its way into your head. The interesting part is the new band makes little change in the sound of what we’ve come to expect from Corgan/Pumpkins. Musically the album is very similar to the last Pumpkin’s release “Machina, the Machines of God”, but nobody was really paying attention to them at that point, and thus Zwan could sound very unique to fans who started to fall asleep there for a bit. The lyrics and tone of the vocals however are surprisingly upbeat for someone who once sang about being in love with his own sadness.
The group’s new faces are all indeed competent musicians in their own right, Dave Pajo and Matt Sweeney’s guitar playing is great (it’s also really nice to hear that decent guitar solos are not completely absent from this century) and you do really feel that jolt from every power chord; But somehow much of the pop sensibility is missing…this would and should be a good thing, as the band is full of all these indie rockers, but this is not in an indie band. Every song is heavily produced, with a refined sound to it that doesn’t quite suit the low-fi indie style. Billy Corgan even stated on the bands website that he tweaked every single track and layer on the album to get as much depth, sound and intensity that he could. This has certainly created a rich enjoyable tone, and the less melancholy lyrics provide for a very appealing package…However, I would have liked to hear a few tracks with a less produced, more casual feel to them, or sell out all the way and give me some catchy guitar riffs surrounded by a melodic chorus. “Honestly” the single comes close and so does “Settle Down” but I’m left mostly with the desire to see this band grow into something more than they are presently. |