Halestorm
One And Done
6.1
I don’t have a whole lot to go on here people, which is surprising considering this band was recently signed to a major label. I’m not sure whether this EP was released as a result of that signing or vice versa, but after some extensive investigating and coming up with very little on the band my conclusion is that Halestorm is not on Atlantic Record’s high priority list. One and Done contains five songs from a live performance spanning roughly twenty minutes featuring pop driven rock n’ roll with a slightly harder edge. Top that off with a beautiful and talented singer who can get a bit gritty at times and also has good enough range to hit those high notes and that’s their recipe for success. Upon my first listen I couldn’t help but picture Lita Ford or Pat Benatar in their tight spandex pants as this stuff does have an 80's "hit me with your best shot" feel to it.
The opening track, “It’s Not You”, starts off with Lzzy Hale (not a typo) showing off her vocal range claiming “she’s in love with somebody”, but…yep, you guessed it…”it’s not you”. The band joins in shortly thereafter with a chug along riff that while not mind blowing serves as good background music for the lovely Miss Hale to do her thing. “The Hand” is next and is probably one of the heavier sounding songs on this ride. The opening guitar part pays homage to the great Jimmy Page and shows a grittier side to the band. The experimental sounding side comes out next with the song “Show Me” featuring some of the best vocal ideas and delivery throughout the night. By this time if I was at this gig the next song would have given me the perfect opportunity to relieve myself and get a fresh beverage. “Blue Eyes” is just a bit too happy sounding for me and just doesn’t seem to fit in with the rest. The closer, called “Takes My Life”, has some less than memorable riffs but probably has the dirtiest sounding vocals in some parts, again showing that grainy edge.
Summing things up, unless I missed something during my search for information on this band it just doesn’t seem like the label is pushing them very hard. Do they deserve some love from the big wigs over there at Atlantic? My answer would be that it definitely wouldn’t hurt as this female fronted four-piece from Red Lion (York), PA has the potential to write some catchy commercialized poppy rock and help deepen somebody’s pocketbook.
