Highly Suspect - The Boy Who Died Wolf

Highly Suspect
The Boy Who Died Wolf
2016
Spotify

If Highly Suspect sound familiar it may be because shockingly they performed at the Grammy's last year with whispers that they were on the shortlist for best rock album and song in the coming year. All this from one album (Mister Asylum) and very little in terms of real rocking history. The music of Highly Suspect is somewhere between grunge and garage rock,not entirely a throwback but pretty damn close. To get anything near something new or a fun sound comes on the third track "Little One" yet it still feels like something Soundgarden recorded back in the 90s. Yet then inexplicably the next track "For Billy" almost has a poppy vibe to it. It is clear that on this album the band is pushing for a much wider sound with each track seeming to harness one rock sub-genre or another in an attempt to please everyone at all times. There is also this issue of language throughout the record that is really off putting. At times Johnny Stevens sings about masturbation, says "fuck" or some other general "bad word" and i guess we are supposed to consider that edgy. It comes across however very contrived like saying fuck somehow makes you a real rock badass.

The first single from the record "Serotonia" is a blues inspired rock anthem, complete with a full on guitar solo towards the end. It seems more like a cover of something from the 60s rather than something new, which just gives you this really really strange feeling. "Send Me An Angel" a Real Life song from the 80s is another trek through miles and miles of murky music. Their label however is putting up big money to make sure that they become the next big thing in rock and roll which is why we see the Grammy nominations and performance, they are going to shove Highly Suspect down your throat whether you like it or not. "F.W.Y.T." stands out because it switches things up a bit into a much more experimental space rock kind of vibe, but it is very much to little to late to save this record. From start to finish The Boy Who Died Wolf suffers from an extreme lack of creativity and is more content to just parrot what has been done before and wrap it up with a prettier bow (google a picture of these guys when you get a chance). There may be some folks that see this as a rebirth of rock, but rest assured it is not.

5.0 out of 10