4.0 out of 5 stars
The band is gone, good songs remain, July 12, 2009
I am, though ever so slightly, a bit disappointed to find nobody has reviewed this album. That said, here is my story. I heard the track "Underwear" played on an obscure radio station months upon months ago, dug around in Google, and came upon this album. I skimmed through the rest of the album's selections on Cordalene's site, and moved on. Fortunately for me, I never got the riff out of my head, and I went back to their site recently to give the other songs a chance. Rather than complain about what I don't like, I will say that the last two tracks on the Album, "Counterfeit" and "You Become So Bright" are two noteworthy pieces of rockmanship and a dash of epicness. Their Wikipedia and Myspace pages make it clear that they were heavily influenced by a wide selection of the front-runners of rock, from the Beatles to Elvis Costello. Now, I greatly admire the Beatles and Elvis Costello, and there is a subtle tinge to Cordalene's songs that pays tribute to them and the other rock pioneers. To make a modern comparison, they have a style similar to the Raconteurs, whose first album actually came out the same year as the Star Ledger (compare the chorus of "You Become..." to the Raconteurs "Hands"). On "Counterfeit", Kiley breaks from his singing style used throughout the rest of the album and gives a deeper, softer, and ultimately beastly performance that almost doesn't seem to belong on the album (though I'm glad it is). The bands delivery bounces around a lot, but I will stick with the good points and say the last two tracks make for two very fine and unique closers for the album. Though no more will be forthcoming from Cordalene, I'll say there is certainly some honor in ending on a high note such as the Star Ledger (or as I prefer, the Counterfeit/You Become so Bright EP).
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