Face
Face
(Gabriel Records)
The guy or the girl in the front with the microphone is invariably the focus of any band. The band stands or falls on that one person in the spotlight whose performance, talent and star quality (read: How cute they are) means all to the band’s success or failure.
Live, it’s performance that counts and on the radio it’s all about the quality of his or her vocal chops.
Detroit band Face has Courtney, whose last name won’t follow her into the spotlight. Why band members can’t just be known by their real names is one of the cheesiest mysteries of the music business, as if “Welcome to the Jungle” would have rocked less if Bill Bailey was singing it, instead of his alter-ego W. Axl Rose.
By whatever name, or none, Courtney does a decent job, crooning and singing with a stronger voice when the songs, credited to the entire band, call for it.
The band’s sound goes along the lines of the Rolling Stones-influenced party rock that composed the uptempo portion of Guns n’ Roses’ repertoire, but Courtney’s vocals make it sound different.
Swaggering verses ending in a big power chord and even the guitar lead or two actually make the record sound a bit dated. It never hints that band members are songwriting masters, but they also make the best of what they’ve got, so it works.
“Supersonic Sindrone” is as dorky, fast and fun as its title implies. Music snobs won’t like this. It’s simple, good toe-tapping fun, but without the pedal steel and fiddle country hoedown those adjectives imply.
As the G n’ R comparison suggests, it is party rock - fun when done right, tiresome when done wrong. (Remember Winger?)
As if dying to prove its relationship to the hair metal days gone by, Face launches into a power ballad “Need to Breathe” on its next number. Here Face shows why it may have more in its tank than the Nine Days’ of the world.
Courtney’s voice illuminates the midtempo track, while Mike Smith’s guitars strum and moan in the background. The woman lets her voice’s strength strut like a soul singer would, all the while staying grounded and sounding like she means it. While she’s not the world’s greatest singer, she really shines on this other-side-of-a-smoky-room track.
Face is a band that sounds like it’d be fun to see on stage and isn’t half bad on record. For a decent carefree listen, from a band whose sound isn’t all over the FM dial, see Face.
