Customer Reviews

Exits

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Coldplay is dead, and the Boxer Rebellion killed it.

Combining the bombast of early Oasis, the shimmering guitars of Six by Seven and Swervdriver and an American predilection for noise, the Boxer Rebellion live up to their name on this album by being punchy (forgive the pun) and peeling away from the fey sound of the British Isles (Coldplay, Travis, Belle and Sebastian, Embrace).

"Flight" and "All You Do is Talk" layer guitars, bass and electronics on top of each other until the songs threaten to topple over completely. That they don't is a tremendous credit to the band. "Flight"s guitars wash onto shore and build a wall of shimmering sound, but the leaping bass is the key. "All You Do is Talk" takes the same formula and adds a little bit of shambolic jangle to come up with an instant classic. "The New Heavy" sounds *exactly* like something Six by Seven might do, but I'm not complaining. The band slows down for a moment on "We Have This Place Surrounded," showing a calmer, more atmospheric side that suits it well.

To be sure there are moments of Coldplay-like emoting here ("Lay Me Down," "The Absentee") but the band never dips into the woe-is-me-alone begging that Coldplay has fallen in love with. "Lay Me Down" and "The Absentee" both stretch over the course of five minutes and each builds steadily into a cathartic apex.

Boxer Rebellion main man and U.S. ex-pat Nathan Nicholson should be praised for fleeing the States and taking America's music ethos across the pond to the stale British scene.

Is EXITS merely the name of the album or the band's statement of purpose? Is it just a title or are the quartet heading to the airport and boarding a plane for a US scene that will embrace it? Who knows, but this album will give you something great to listen to while the band decides.

I am in London and just found this disc. WHAT A SOUND! I would call it "Coldplay with an edge and meaning." It is fresh, hard, melodic, driving. For those of you wanting to be on the cutting edge of new music, I highly recommend this CD.

Once in a great while a band will come along that is able to take you on a sonic journey that is at once exhilarating and melancholic all at once, a journey of sounds and sights, tearing at the heavens, just out of reach.

It's hard to discuss The Boxer Rebellion without drawing comparisons, merely as a point of reference to the (regrettably) far too few to have discovered this incredible four-piece out of the London music scene.

When I first heard TBR, all I could think was, I have heard this before, and it was all too familiar, yet so new and refreshing at the same time. Combining so many sounds, from the acoustic melancholy of The Church, the anthemic soaring sounds of early U2, the bombastic bravado of early Oasis, with a bit of "Filter" lite industrial riff thrown in, well, what's not to like?

"Exits" is the first full-length studio album by TBR, and even though TBR had found some success in the UK, due to stellar tracks like the throwaway rocker "Code Red", or club favorite "Watermelon", "Exits" stands as an intriguing journey from beginning to end, with the band building a wall of sound so enormous, any musicians of lesser talent would have the walls tumbling down around them.

While not perfect by any means, it has come as close as anything I have stumbled on in recent years.

The album opens with "Flight" and "All You Do Is Talk", two tracks that bleed into one another, filled with a menacing riff, and more menacing lyrics. A clarion call to "Stand and Fight" if you will.....the band is in top form from the first distorted feedback on "Flight".....

Things slow down on "We Have This Place Surrounded", my favorite track on the album. Melancholic, ethereal, full of passion and longing, desperate reaching, a house of ghosts, crying to the heavens for salvation, this has to be one of the single best tracks I have heard in a very long time, by any band! Building into a "wall of sound" crescendo, you won't want it to end.

It does however, and launches into "Watermelon", the only track from their earlier EP to make it onto the debut album, with a catchy beat and riff, makes for a great dance track, and picks the album tempo back up.

"The New Heavy" is next, and does not slow the journey down, reminiscent of early, bombastic Oasis, it is a decent track, but to me at least, feels strangely out of place on the album, and is my least favorite track.

Things come to a screeching halt in "World Without End", a beautiful, nocturnal ballad. It definitely has a dream quality to it, and has grown on me.

"Never Knowing How or Why" is my second favorite track on the album, and is another track that builds itself into an anthemic frenzy, sounding a lot like earlier, inspired, and fresh U2, it's an incredible song that will leave you wishing it were longer.

"Lay Me Down" is a nice follow-up, and brings back memories of The Church, with nicely layered guitars, a melancholy beat, and a sustained mood throughout.

"Cowboys & Engines" is a catchy little tune, excellent lyrics; this is a tight track that gets better with multiple listens.

"The Absentee" is an excellent closing track, forlorn, melodic, with a nicely layered keyboard and guitar, building to a fulfilling end of the journey.

"Exits" certainly leaves its mark, and as a debut release, this makes it all the more impressive with the amount of talent TBR has right out of the gate. They are putting the finishing touches on their new album, and if any of the preview tracks are an indication, they have certainly taken it to the next level, and I would expect everyone will be hearing from TBR soon enough....

OK, the other three existing reviewers do a great job of detailing the sounds, nuances, influences and affect The Boxer Rebellion will have on listeners. I got an iTunes free download of a TBR song from their Union album. I loved it, then headed to Amazon to listen to more. The more I heard, the more I liked. So, what else could I do but buy both of their albums...

IMHO, their second album "Union" has more polish and refinement than Exits. If you liked U2 when they were new, Oasis, Echo and the Bunnymen, or any other really good alternative band, you'll probably like The Boxer Rebellion. There are a lot of different sounds here, hard, edgy, even down-tempo but all cuts that feel right at home on any alternative music channel.

Give Exits a try, and if you like this album, their follow-up Union is every bit as good.

I have all three Cds from this band. i would describe them as a hybrid between Coldplay and U2, although i'm no music critic.

The only thing that makes me wander about Boxer Rebellion is WHY aren't they more famous.

Great band. Great CD.

Buy the other two also.

I thought that this DVD had the song "Semi-Automatic" and it seemed that it was listed as one of the songs on this disk, but it did not and I hate the DVD and if anyone wants it--they can have it. It is very far from Cold Play as so many reviewers claimed. It's just noise as far as I'm concerned.