Over the seven songs that make up The New Collisions debut EP, Invisible Embraces, it doesn’t take too long to hear some of their influences. The Go-Go’s, late Clash, X-Ray Spex, and of course it’s rare that you won’t hear the name Blondie from a female-fronted, new-wave, pop/punk style band (with good reason of course). And as one of Boston’s hottest bands, The New Collisions certainly didn’t pass up the opportunity to tour with Blondie or the B-52’s this past summer.
Another band I thought of while listening to the EP was The Cars, this is mostly based on the keyboards and synths. Later I found out that Cars keyboardist Greg Hawkes worked with the band after catching one of their early shows and played keys on some of the tracks on the EP (making me either really smart or way too much of a music nerd). Anthony Resta, who has produced Duran Duran and Missing Persons to name a few, produced Invisible Embraces as well.
Of course when you read these types of comparisons, you have a pretty clear idea of what you are about to hear, still it all sounds fresh and new. The New Collisions bring a familiar late 70’s/80’s sound that is nothing but fun and more than ready to be danced to, with a modern touch and vibrance of a band doing it for the first time. Much of this is due to the exburence of vocalist Sarah Guild, who seems more than ready to lead the way based on the band photos and clips googling can offer.
Invisible Embraces is a solid and fun debut from a promsing young band. Lyrcially the songs are pretty simple and at times won’t make much sense to the listener, but this is more than fine with the feeling they accompany. Personally I’d like to see a little more egde to the band on future releases. Maybe let the sound get a little dirtier and add a little more punk to some of the tracks. Still it’s hard not to get excited about what we’ll hear next out of The New Collisions.
Kevin Kozel-MuzikReviews.com Staff
September 29, 2009
