Camarosmith - Camarosmith (Cover Artwork)
Staff Review

Camarosmith

Camarosmith (2003)

Dead Teenager


Hey! This isn't punk! Kill it! Kill it! Camarosmith is a side project of Zeke, and no, it sounds absolutely nothing like them. This is a rock album, but not the savior of music garage rock garbage that has been done to death by "The" bands. If I had to compare them to anyone, and I guess I do, I'd say they sound a whole lot like Soundgarden. Yes, they sound like Soundgarden. I won't lie, I'm fairly certain that I owned a Soundgarden album at one time, although I have no idea were it is now.

Right off the bat I knew was going to be in for something different from what I was expecting. This is just a plain old rock band, as I said earlier, they sound like Soundgarden, but they also give nods to classic bands like Black Sabbath. If you would've told me that this band was from the 60's or 70's I wouldn't have doubted you. I'm not a big fan of "throw back" bands, but I'll give someone credit when they do something well. It's hard to listen to this stuff without at least tapping you foot a little and acknowledging the cool riffs. That's not to say that it's technical in the sense that it's mind blowing, but the solos and leads are noteworthy.

The production of this album is handled by Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Zeke, L7) and he does a fine job here. Overproduction could've definitely dealt a serious blow to this album, but there's a just enough knob twisting going on here to make everything sound great. The vocals are crystal clear, yet not "soaring" to the degree that they drown out the rest of the band, the rhythm section is, well the rhythm section, and the guitar playing is in your face (most overused phrase ever).

This is just a solid album. Apparently, the goal of this band is to get a cease-and-desist order from either Aerosmith or Chevrolet, and judging by all of the frivolous lawsuits as of late, I don't think it will be very long. At least they didn't mess with George Lucas, otherwise they'd probably be dead by now. If you're a fan of straight ahead rock ‘n roll, then I think you'll find this album enjoyable. If you think this is going to sound anything like Zeke you should probably check out a few songs first. It's always nice to see a band trying something a little bit new (or in this case old), but all in all I'm glad that Zeke is back together.

S.O.S. MP3