Sparta
Porcelain
»
Sparta
Porcelain
DreamWorks, 2004
RiYL: Pearl Jam, Jawbox, early U2, At The Drive-In |
Sure enough, Jim Ward (vocals/guitar), Paul Hinojos (guitar) and Tony Hajjar (drums) banded together to form the rock radio-ready combo Sparta, while Cedric Bixler and Omar Rodriguez immediately began exploring complex arrangements and prog/jazz diversions as The Mars Volta. And while Sparta's 2002 debut, Wiretap Scars, proved the sonic legacy of ATDI wasn't necessarily a stylistic dead-end, Porcelain finds the band settling comfortably into its own skin and sounding all the more powerful for it.
Distilling such formative influences as Vs.-era Pearl Jam, Jawbox and early U2, the album opens with "Guns Of Memorial Park," a strutting, streamlined rocker with just the right tinge of menace. Such intensity suits the band even better on "Death In The Family" and "Le Cerca," a propulsively melodic number with an enigmatic chorus: "I was raised in a certain way / and I think I've let you down."
Key to the improved fortunes of Sparta is Ward, who still sounds like he's straining to hit the notes but sidesteps emo cliches with a convincing, clenched-fist delivery. And rather than simply ratcheting the temperature knob up all the way, Ward lets songs like "While Oceana Sleeps" gradually boil over into white-hot confessionals.
Other highlights include the arena-worthy "Breaking The Broken," with the uncommonly affirming line "I wouldn't trade what I've got / not for anything," the pounding sing-a-long "Hiss The Villain," and the six-minute "Lines In Sand," which builds from calming verses and watery-sounding guitars into a power ballad any number of contemporaries would love to have in their repertoire.
In the end, Porcelain pulls off a rare feat: able to appeal to hardcore/emo lovers as well as fans of good, old-fashioned guitar rock.
JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"