Review by Rachel Jablonski
“Pardon me,” you may politely ask, “so why are you running away?” And my reply will simply be, “Giants without hearts were coming closer.”
Familiarity haunts the “Why fight it” EP from California based Growth of Alliance. A completely radio friendly rock band, Growth of Alliance produces catchy choruses and memorable guitar lines, but does not testify much originality. Definite hints of bands such as Incubus and Hoobastank saturate the disc spliced with perhaps a heavier version of The Samples. The sound is clear, pure, and pleasant in tone, but quite honestly ventures into territory that has already been done, redone, and overdone by infinitely many bands.
The vocal resemblance to that of The Samples in “Departure” is remarkable. Having been exposed to a cultic following of The Samples while attending Creighton University, I nostalgically expect to hear the song “Giants” as the next track. But “King of you” presents me with more of a Brandon Boyd sounding vocal instead. This is not to say the vocal styling is meant to clone these successful bands of new and old, but with the musical method bestowed, the similarity is simply unshakable.
“King of you” begins with various musical tones and noises overtop a simplistic beat similar to that of “The Warmth” by Incubus. The chorus of “The Day that I met you” begs me to think of Hoobastank. “Bug” begins with a heavy riff that sounds promising until it is again replaced with a pseudo Incubus type sound. Much of the album seems promising, however, monotonous repetition is demonstrated in riff progression as many off the heavy guitar parts begin sounding the same from song to song turning potential into blandness.
The “Why Fight It?” EP from Growth of Alliance has a very catchy sound that’s easy to get caught up in, but the level of emotion produced through the music is not more than a flat line. Decent instrumental work, catchy vocals, but Incubus is already prominent and clones like Hoobastank are endless. Along these same lines, the music of Growth of Alliance screams, “Don’t bother! You’ve heard this before!”