The Giraffes
Self Titled
5.8
Like a pungent pile of feces on the Serengeti, The Giraffes have dumped their last effort of rock and roll on the kind readers of this here metal site. Well played and well recorded, this hard rock act nonetheless never really breaks free of their tenth generation Led Zeppelin clone status to capture my interest. Yes they play more aggressive than their mentors but most of the time this is what holds them back. They rely too heavily on tricky tempo changes and start/stop riffing rather than letting riffs flow more organically. I can’t tell you how many times I’d start nodding my head to a nice riff only to have it evaporate into thin air. Rock is all about the big hooks but you don’t find them here. Instead we’re treated to a lot of Zeppelinesque drum/guitar shuffles with the occasional memorable riff.
On the positive side, the vocals are pretty solid, definitely one of the redeeming qualities of the band. The singer sounds like a less grungy version of the late Layne Stanley of Alice In Chains fame. Hopefully he drops this band and moves on to something bigger and better as it would be a shame to see him slog it out in a second rate rock band like this.
So there you have it. This release will probably be of zero interest to almost everyone who reads this site. It’s not death and roll, it’s not retro or stoner rock…just plain derivative hard rock played with conviction but ultimately not worth getting excited over.
