review - The Hotshot Freight Train's We Are...

In every interview I’ve read with the HOTSHOT FREIGHT TRAIN, the band makes reference to the range of the members’ previous projects (including Knoxville stalwarts Atropos and Joey’s Loss) and then goes on to assert that the sound of HSFT is consciously separate from these earlier sensibilities; in fact, the rear sleeve of their debut EP We Are The Hotshot Freight Train dedicates an entire tongue-in-cheek paragraph-cum-press-release to mildly defensive soundbytes from each member concerning their professedly unclassifiable brand of rock. What’s so immediately striking about the band is that these claims are at once true and false, as The Hotshot Freight Train traffic in what can only be confidently classified as Modern Rock, simply because they draw from practically every sub-genre contained therein, very much including those paths well-worn by their previous groups. It follows, then, that their music is enjoyable but sadly undistinguished, and their wide musical vocabulary is occasionally overshadowed by cheesy songwriting choices (“Tonight”) and overly earnest (I’m consciously avoiding another “E” word here) vocals. But some of what HSFT throws at the wall sticks, particularly when they draw strongly on more creative influences like Trail Of Dead, Fugazi, and Hot Snakes, and especially in the final track, “Grace So Beautiful”, when vocalist Josh Tipton gives equal time to a terrifically effective throaty howl. The eight-song (!) EP, recorded by guitarist Greg Barker, gives the band a full sound while remaining as garagey as it needs to be, and is sure to be a well-received place marker as the band finds its own sound.

RIYL: listening to rock radio

MP3: "Grace So Beautiful" (4:29)