Album Review: The Gems - Phoenix

There was a very brief time when I thought Thundermother were one of the more promising young rock bands out there. They had some good songs, and they had a hell of a vocalist, so the pieces were in place for them to grow and develop into something special. That didn't happen, as the band fractured soon thereafter. The Gems, as you can guess by the album's title, are rising from the ashes of Thundermother. That means we get the same kind of classic hard rock, and more importantly, we get the same outstanding vocals. The Gems got the biggest talent in this divorce, so they're starting out well ahead.

The problem is, of course, that songwriting is the hardest thing to quantify. While this group has all the talent necessary to play and sing a great record, they don't quite have the songs for it. Thundermother didn't always have it either, and it's this quality that seems to have been most affected by the split. The good song ideas are still there, but now they're being split between two bands, and there aren't enough of them for everything to be killer. That's especially true with this record being fifteen songs long, including three 'interludes'. That's taking on more risk of a dud than they need to. The longer you stretch your record, and the more superfluous music you put on it, the better it needs to be.

As I said, the band has all the necessary talent. Mona and Emlee can play this AC/DC-ish rock very well, and Guernica is one of the best young singers out there. I can think of scores of other singers who keep getting put in band after band who don't have the tone and power she possesses. She is the selling point for any album she's on. Unfortunately for the band, this isn't the old days anymore, and that isn't enough.

That time when I thought Thundermother had so much potential was during an album cycle where they worked with a producer who was aiding them in the songwriting department. I don't know if The Gems are doing the same thing, but whatever the process of creating this music is, the results often don't have the melodic edge that would make these songs really hook listeners. Too many of these songs fall into the old bluesy rock stereotype of shouting a chorus where the focus is on the voice, and not only the actual melody, because there isn't much of one. In a way I understand that, since I'm sure those are the style of bands influencing them, but that's not the kind of music that is of this time.

The Gems are an example of how hard it is to be a truly great band. The odds of putting together a band with great players and a phenomenal singer, who happen to also be great songwriters, are pretty low. One of those areas is likely to be lacking, and depending on which one it is, the others may not be able to pick up the slack to carry the group over the threshold.

That's where I feel we're getting a bit stuck. I want to love this record, because the band's tones are wonderful. Guernica is a force I want to be blown away by. The songs don't consistently win me over, and as much as I like the sound itself, it isn't enough to make me want to keep listening to this record again and again. The Gems have a lot of promise, but a bit more melody needs to be injected before I get the itch. This is a solid start, but let's hope it's only that, and bigger things are on the horizon.