Review: Fixer - ‘Before The Sun’
Posted: April 6th, 2008
Contributed By: Nick
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Purchase @ Amazon.com Release Date: April 8, 2008 via Riker Hill Records |
| Fixer is: Evan Saffer (Vocals) Tommy Zamp (Guitar) J Brown (Bass) Rev Swank (Drums) |
Overview: Fixer has been spinning its web from the streets of New York City for the greater part of the last decade or so. Diligent rehearsing and persistent touring broke the band in efficiently, and the quartet self-released ‘Before the Sun‘ last year and hit the road. Mom and Pop label Riker Hill Records liked what they saw and heard and inked Fixer to re-release ‘Before the Sun‘ to a national audience in re-mastered, newly designed format. The album hits in April and Fixer’s MySpace already lists a slew of dates rolled out in support of the re-release.
The Good: ‘Before the Sun‘ is a rare case of being comfortably “stuck in the middle” of two genres-80’s style glam/hard rock and the present day flux of throwback, arena-ready modern rock anthems; one listen of the album’s first track, the brisk and raunchy “Tell No One”, will show you how. The band keeps firing on all cylinders with “Head in my Hands”, a juiced up groove-laden slab of rock and switches gears unflinchingly with the hopeful, sun-kissed sentiments of “Down Without It”. The album’s title track, one of the more lively and consistent cuts off the CD, propels the listener back into high octane, and Fixer will certainly catch you off guard with the towering, monstrous guitar solos of the “Hillbilly Heroin”, a song 1988 wishes they could call their own. The scrappy tune “Home Again” moves things forward a couple years and shows Fixer doing their best “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” impersonation, while the undeniable wit and shamelessness “Dirty Girl” throws out all the rules and highlights a band simply having a good time. ‘Before the Sun‘ certainly saves its best for last, starting with the powerful piano ballad “When It Comes to You”, which serves as the vocal pinnacle of ‘Before the Sun‘ for front-man Evan Saffer. The album’s final cry is “Tuxedo”. Checking in at just over nine minutes, it might be easy to run away screaming from the last 550 seconds of ‘Before the Sun‘ but be warned-you will be missing out on a treat. A potpourri epic track, “Tuxedo” is a multi-faceted ride that starts with crafty and virile modern rock that suddenly dashes into a prog/experimental rock tirade coated by encompassing guitar licks that will annihilate you until ‘Before the Sun‘ hits its very last second. ‘Before the Sun‘ is chockfull of a plethora of neat twists and turns, as Fixer constantly have you guessing as to where they will take you next.
The Bad: For a debut album, Fixer did quite ok for themselves with the material presented on ‘Before the Sun‘, but they still have plenty to work on. The band sounds way, way too “busy” as a whole, with each member seeming to do his own thing after the first verse and chorus pass and making many of the songs sound more frantic and haywire than need be. Vocally, Evan Saffer possesses an enviable voice, but if he doesn’t learn to harness his gift and know when to hold back and by dynamic then it will become a completely fruitless asset; he seems to sing at two levels-loud and louder, which not only detracts from his lyrics but also from the three musicians trying to articulate over his belting. ‘Before the Sun‘ suffers mightily in the production department, and while this can be attributed to budget or an attempt at a lo-fi, vintage sound, it makes a majority of the album sound sloppy and disconnected.
Bottomline: ‘Before the Sun‘ is not a bad effort by Fixer at all, and I bet 90 percent of the cookie cutter bands out there doing literally the same thing as these guys could only wish they had the raw talent shown on Fixer’s debut. The only thing holding Fixer back, in my opinion is Fixer. It’s like working out at the gym-sure, you might be strong and packing some muscle, but that doesn’t require you to get in there try to bench-press 900 pounds just to prove a point; of course, the weight you lift should challenge you a bit, but consistency and room to increase strength and capacity should be the ultimate goals. ‘Before the Sun‘ lacks the previous duo of traits, because the band is not only inconsistent on multiple counts, but it seems as though they laid everything they had up their sleeves on the table, which could do damage to their potential at longevity. Nevertheless, ‘Before the Sun‘ does show ample amounts of ability from a band on its very first record and I think if Fixer took a step back from everything and worked on fine-tuning their tools, their second effort could be dangerous.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Comments
Comment from Cfw828
April 6, 2008, 3:16 pm
They try way too hard to be GNR, IMO.
Comment from Nick
April 6, 2008, 6:37 pm
hahaha elupien
Comment from Nick
April 6, 2008, 6:38 pm
hahahahaha
Comment from tAyLoR
April 7, 2008, 4:54 pm
There’s a part of the “bottomline” section that I can’t help but disagree with. Fixer’s longevity really doesn’t seem like an issue, considering what I constantly hear from the people at their concerts. The people I meet at their shows are always saying how great they know this band will get, and how they cannot wait to come see them again and again. (And this is from people who see them just for the first time, let alone all the people in their immense fanbase who see them on a regular basis). Not to mention that the band’s newest songs (these songs are not on this CD, but the band has played them live on many occasions) have been received overwhelmingly well by old fans and new ones alike. Of course these people aren’t “critics”, they are fans, and they aren’t required to pick apart the music and judge it as intensely as a critic; however, what matters in the end are the fans, and Fixer is more than capable of bringing their fans everything they want and so much more.
(This comment is not intended to insult or denounce the writer, I simply wish to share what I have heard so that it may provide further insight for those who are interested. I actually thought this review was very well written and was very thorough.)
Comment from ryche
April 7, 2008, 6:06 pm
These guys are very good friends of mine so I wanted to weight in. Fixer’s disc is excellent (please check it out for yourself) but they are really amazing live. Every time they plan in my town the crowd doubles and that is due mostly to strong word of mouth. Check these guys out and make up your own mind. All you have to do is listen to the first minute or so of Tuxedo to know that there is something going on here. Hopefully the label will give the the promotion needed to break in. BTW, tomorrow they are going to have a song in “The Hills” on MTV.
Comment from Nick
April 7, 2008, 7:33 pm
thank you tAyLoR and ryche for your input on the review
Comment from ridgewood_high
April 9, 2008, 11:17 pm
I agree with all that you said, Nick, and would like to add a bit more, if you please.
Perhaps Fixer is tired of being “everyone’s favorite secret,” as lead singer Evan Saffer recently said in a radio interview, but at least when they were just “everyone’s favorite secret,” their integrity and musical fortitude was intact.
Now, with the departure of two founding members (J Brown replacing Jev Ward on bass turned out to be a great move, as Brown is an energetic and passionate player who has a classically-honed technical skill on par with Jaco Pastorius, putting him leaps and bounds above his predecessor. On the other hand, guitarist Tommy Zamp is a sixth-rate bar-band version of Jimmy Crespo to founding guitarist Wilson Lihn’s Joe Perry. Zamp, late of drug-rockers More (thankfully defunct), lacks the charisma, skill, and interpersonal connection with Saffer that was the basis of every great Fixer song. In short, instead of developing his own style within Fixer, Zamp’s a hired gun doing a minstrel act of Lihn’s incomparable style, trying to fill shoes he could never look upon, let alone fill), and the seeming need to “take what they can get” insofar as attention, Fixer’s BEFORE THE SUN falls short of all that could have been.
Borrow your sister’s copy of BEND (that EP’s version of “Home Again” says more in 4 minutes than this entire album says in 60) to see what Fixer was, and all that Fixer could have been had they not fallen victim to “look at me!” attention-seeking (”Mixing in with my Blood,” a decent song, was recently featured on “The Hills,” itself the paragon of all things attention-seeking while remaining completely devoid of substance and honesty, an irony that cannot possibly be lost on Fixer), sycophantic rock’n'roll hegemony (”Tell No One” is little more than a kiss-up to the goth-metal crowd that Saffer desperately tries to be recognized by; its video is part “Rock of Love” out-take with its skanky unwashed cast, part Saffer mugging straight-outta-Central-Casting “rock star” poses), and music industry Darwinism (”What It’s Like” is a cloying, annoying attempt at “power balladeering” that is better suited for boy bands; Nick Lachey might have had a Top 10 hit with “Down Without It,” but Fixer insisted that there was profundity in such nursery-rhyme lyrics as “There’s no doubt about it/I’m going down without it”; “When it Comes to You” is so bad it isn’t even worth discussing).
To be fair, a few songs are pretty good (”Hillbilly Herdin,” its misspell notwithstanding, is as bruising as all the BEND songs; even the classic “Tuxedo,” featuring drummer Tim Newton’s blistering beats — not since “Inna-gadda-da-Vida” has a drummer been so well featured — gets a respectable, if somewhat extensive, treatment), but “a few good songs” does not equal “classic album/rock superstardom,” especially as far as Fixer is concerned, who once held themselves to the highest standards of musician- and showmanship. One band’s opus is Fixer’s “phoning it in,” which is both their blessing and their curse.
The whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and Fixer — in whatever permutation suits them best — needs to get back to the honesty, passion, and good ol’fashioned rock’n'roll that made them “everyone’s favorite band” on their follow-up (assuming there is one). Otherwise, to quote the once-mighty band, we can just “watch them as they break apart, floundering in shallow water.”
And, for the record, critic or not, you can’t take what the “friends of the band” say seriously. What did you expect them to say? It’s about the MUSIC, not about your FRIENDS.
Comment from Nick
April 10, 2008, 10:50 am
nice post bro thanks for the elaboration
Comment from gladys
April 10, 2008, 2:47 pm
Gosh, ridgewood_high, you sure did go out of your way to try and sound intelligent, and you may have fooled some, but not all. Your misdirected bitterness, and cringe-worthy affection for Wilson are dead giveaways. I must also correct you on some things…(not all, as I don’t have the desire to be here all day). Your beloved Wilson, who, for the record is indeed an amazing player, was part of writing the entire album. These songs you bash, “Tell”, “Down”…he was right there. Wilson CHOSE to leave the band, as he did not want to tour. Tommy is a big talent as well, and loves to be on the road. Gotta move on…as much as you don’t seem to want to. To wit: (”Tell No One” is little more than a kiss-up to the goth-metal crowd that Saffer desperately tries to be recognized by). Have you seen a show lately? Hell…within the last 2-3 years? Evan has definetely had his various incarnations, but to think he’s trying to “appeal” to a goth crowd is stunningly amusing. He is who he is, is supremely confident in that, and welcomes all comers. Also, have you even heard “Tell No One”? Anyone with even a tiny bit of knowledge will tell you that’s a pop-rock tune, pure and simple. In short, you’re an idiot. And, may I add, that the band and Wilson are still very close, and may even work together again in the future.
Comment from Nick
April 11, 2008, 9:47 am
haha while im both truly honored and flattered that so many of you are using my review as the primary source for some of the research paper length posts above, i never expected it to come from the Fixer review haha
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Comment from elupien
April 6, 2008, 12:44 pm
Fixer’s album cover is to Fosterchild’s as Saving Abel’s album cover is to Stereoside’s.