CD Title: Demo
Year: 2008
Website: www.alternine.com/
MySpace: To be updated.
Label: None
Featured on: Loucifer Speaks Exclusive
Rating: 7/10
More Links: Please discuss this review and band in the Loucifer Speaks forum.
I really hadn't done my homework with this band and so had no idea what to expect from them until I actually listened to the EP.
I'm glad I had no assumptions, otherwise my reaction to the music may have been quite different... and it's always fun to be surprised!
Alternine hail from France and play music of the rock persuasion and have a female vocalist. The vocalist (you'll have to forgive me as I don't know her name) steers clear of the over-the-top, over-produced classical vocals that appear to be popular at the moment and, as a result, her vocals have an extremely honest quality.
Some tracks on this demo are better than others - which is to be expected. "Sciensology", the CD's opener, has a strangely familiar melody and is completely addictive. "Ignition" took a few listens to get into, but by the third or fourth time I was enjoying as much as the previous track. I think "Trigger" is the weakest track here and I couldn't really warm to it - but that just may be a question of personal taste (well, what isn't??) than a reflection of the band's abilities. "Satellites" has that same instant addictive factor as "Sciensology" and is a fantastic song to chill out to. I like both the first and last song equally, but for different reasons and both of these tracks show Alternine at their very best.
Overall, this is a good effort and shouldn't be dismissed. The band play with such conviction and passion that it's hard not to like this demo. It's not perfect, but if Alternine continue to create songs like "Satellites" and "Sciensology" they could soon be onto a winner.