Rubikon
Delta
Independent Release
2015
We’ve reached a point, where, either several bands share the same name, or many have similar ones, initially, I thought this was either a new release by the Firehouse singer’s other band, or by some Berlin pop/electro wiz’es. Apparently if you’ve been around for almost fifteen years and you’re little known and it’s hard to find info about you, well it’s not the best thing that could happen.
Rubikon seem to have hired a team of professionals to handle their overall production, ie producer Marti Frederiksen (Aerosmith, Brother Cane), mixer Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures) and Howie Weinberg (Metallica, Nirvana) as a mastering engineer. This guarantees their bluesy stoner, is well produced and has an edgy and sexy sound, all right, which is aided, by an almost live – minimal overdubs, approach, but what does it tell us about the songs, themselves? Rubikon seem to be a one trick pony. They have their sound figured out, but don’t stray much from it. They have this riffy stoner rock as a basis of most of their songs, that tends on most songs to either just go on and on, or occasionally dies down, only for a breakdown to revive things. For instance, on their opener and single, “Live the Lie”, the band opens up with quite a bit of swagger, before the go quite for a bit and then resume their stomping and rocking. While one may say the band has all the “right” influences, they don’t stray too far away from predictability and what is quite popular, in most cases.
“Three Days” reverses things around, more dusty and smooth, but quite swinging and occasionally louder, toward the mid-ends, actually feeling “better” than their “single”.
“Vipers” takes the middle of the road, and balances melody and roughness. Driven by a rocking little riff and the occasional lick, it’s also better. It also feels a bit like modern day “Lynyrd Skynyrd” tripping up on a desert trip.
“Sermon” sounds a bit like Audioslave/Soundgarden and throws a curveball, with some nice female vox, that come out surprisingly in the middle of things and feel quite right. Again a bit of a winner.
“Swingers” swings on lazily, like some 70s jam shit, and predictably gets ‘eavy around the middle. While not bad, you can predict, what’s gonna happen – way before it does.
On “Wasting Time”, Rubikon get even quieter and folky/country, with the vocals on occasion reminding the strained crescendos of the late L. Stanley.
“Captain Deep” hits the overdrive and stomps quite wildly but in quite a funky way. Not bad, but far from great.
“Through the Looking Glass” is poppy and trippy and rather quiet, with even poofy falsettos and some funk-ed up keys. It almost sounds like a totally different band, something “Marnoon 5” inspired, or whatnot. In a way, it stands out, but I dunno, if it’s for good.
Closer “Pretty Pretty” is actually pretty good, in comparison, as it takes the band’s formula and infrequently steps on the gas, with the occasional tempo swifts keeping things interesting as the song disintegrates to a static filled, halt.
The really great production gives them an edge and Rubikon do what they do well enough, but I hardly think any of the stoner inspired bands are all too original, so they might do just fine.
Rubikon seem to have hired a team of professionals to handle their overall production, ie producer Marti Frederiksen (Aerosmith, Brother Cane), mixer Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures) and Howie Weinberg (Metallica, Nirvana) as a mastering engineer. This guarantees their bluesy stoner, is well produced and has an edgy and sexy sound, all right, which is aided, by an almost live – minimal overdubs, approach, but what does it tell us about the songs, themselves? Rubikon seem to be a one trick pony. They have their sound figured out, but don’t stray much from it. They have this riffy stoner rock as a basis of most of their songs, that tends on most songs to either just go on and on, or occasionally dies down, only for a breakdown to revive things. For instance, on their opener and single, “Live the Lie”, the band opens up with quite a bit of swagger, before the go quite for a bit and then resume their stomping and rocking. While one may say the band has all the “right” influences, they don’t stray too far away from predictability and what is quite popular, in most cases.
“Three Days” reverses things around, more dusty and smooth, but quite swinging and occasionally louder, toward the mid-ends, actually feeling “better” than their “single”.
“Vipers” takes the middle of the road, and balances melody and roughness. Driven by a rocking little riff and the occasional lick, it’s also better. It also feels a bit like modern day “Lynyrd Skynyrd” tripping up on a desert trip.
“Sermon” sounds a bit like Audioslave/Soundgarden and throws a curveball, with some nice female vox, that come out surprisingly in the middle of things and feel quite right. Again a bit of a winner.
“Swingers” swings on lazily, like some 70s jam shit, and predictably gets ‘eavy around the middle. While not bad, you can predict, what’s gonna happen – way before it does.
On “Wasting Time”, Rubikon get even quieter and folky/country, with the vocals on occasion reminding the strained crescendos of the late L. Stanley.
“Captain Deep” hits the overdrive and stomps quite wildly but in quite a funky way. Not bad, but far from great.
“Through the Looking Glass” is poppy and trippy and rather quiet, with even poofy falsettos and some funk-ed up keys. It almost sounds like a totally different band, something “Marnoon 5” inspired, or whatnot. In a way, it stands out, but I dunno, if it’s for good.
Closer “Pretty Pretty” is actually pretty good, in comparison, as it takes the band’s formula and infrequently steps on the gas, with the occasional tempo swifts keeping things interesting as the song disintegrates to a static filled, halt.
The really great production gives them an edge and Rubikon do what they do well enough, but I hardly think any of the stoner inspired bands are all too original, so they might do just fine.