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On disc: The Black Sheep



Not Part Of The Deal - Claudia Ehrhardt - 6 stars


www.theblacksheep.de







Not Part Of The Deal

Not Part Of The Deal
(Roadrunner Records - 2009)


The German all girl alternative band The Black Sheep is signed by Roadrunner Records and now their debut album Not Part Of The Deal is getting into the stores. The foursome kicks off with You Can't Push Me, an alternative rocker with crunchy guitars and melodic, but snotty vocals. But the song has a pop appeal, new food for the music channels like MTV and Viva. At My Answer Charly's vocals remind me a bit of Avril Lavigne... The youngsters rock, then stop dead and Charly almost whispers some words, just to return to rock you. At Unwritten Apology they switch between slow, melodic passages and heavy rocking parts, but somehow it sounds constructed.... After a pop rock tune Bring Us Back crunchy guitars lead you into Game Over which doesn't follow the scheme. Due to a different rhythmic pattern and the staccato riffing they manage to make this one stick out. Balladesque and with piano begins Come Out Now, but then the song explodes - for a moment. They switch back and forth between guitar-driven rock parts and balladesque passages which focus on Charly's voice. At Take The Bullets Back the girls offer heavy, crunchy riffs, but the vocals lack an aggressive edge. A bit too tamed. At Crash & Burn the Avril Lavigne-ish sound is back, but The Black Sheep don't have the fresh unconcerned sound... It seems like they want to have this punky attitude, but don't want to fully commit themselves to it... Another problem for me is that The Black Sheep seem to repeat themselves... Towards the end of the album you get the feeling like you heard the songs before...
The girls can rock, but I think they have to make a decision, if they want to rock or want to attract MTV & co. Too tamed, too much sounding like other bands... They need to find their own identity to really have chance to make it on the long run.


6 stars

Claudia Ehrhardt
 

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