Becca - Alive!! Review

Following in the footsteps of Avril Lavigne and Paramore's Hayley Williams, 20-year-old Portland native Becca Holcraft wants to be the next hard-rocking female with attitude. Already a big smash in Japan, the young starlet hopes to strike the same chord with fans of chicks who can sing a note or two, look good while doing so, and in the process, rock hard.

Yeah, okay, sure. Sounds good on paper, right? I mean, Hayley Williams has no problem with it. Avril Lavigne has become less bratty teen queen and more, um, sassy bitch? Becca certainly isn't Ann Wilson or even Alanis Morrisette (she's barely tolerable as a Demi Lovato knock-off), but with Meredith Brooks (she sang that song "Bitch" like 12 years ago) behind her, Becca is prepared to leave her footprint in the rock world.

Problem is, it all feels far too gimmicky to be taken seriously. The "rock" mantra is stressed so prominantly in promotional photos and press releases, you're waiting for Becca to strut out in the same leather pants Cher wore in "If I Could Turn Back Time." Hugging guitars, sporting cool hats, wearing ripped tees -- alright, we get it. You're edgy, you aren't being Miley -- don't force the issue. Make it come alive in your music. That's where you cash your checks in, and sadly, they bounce back hard. Becca appears to be a talented singer, but it doesn't come across naturally. She isn't a voice you could pick out of a crowd and as hard as she tries, her emotions come off as stiff and rigid; she could sell a "Sk8er Boi" cover, for sure, but she is intent on writing "deep" stuff, and it simply stalls before it can reach the gate.

Make no mistake: this isn't sexism. This is purely cashing in on a trend. Girls playing "hard rockin' tunes" with an unmistakably pop sheen to them is all the rage right now, and Becca's another young, cute and gentle-voiced singer trying to find a way in. There's nothing here you haven't heard anywhere else, and unless Fefe Dobson or hell, Meredith Brooks for that matter, can convince Becca the American public is going to buy it... she'd be better off re-working it all for a more down-to-earth approach.

Her lyrics are Jewel-poem rejects, and the tightly-wound instrumentals aren't even Becca's doing (she can pose with a guitar, but can she play one?). They sound huge and are perfect for teenagers' ears, but the lack of heart is so visible, it's blinding. "Where's the sun, all I see are the clouds / I just wanna run, break free from this crowd ... Isn't there someone who, understands my pain." Considering how long this kid's been in the business (according to her press release), did she simply plagiarize her old middle school diary? Even emo kids would have a difficult time swallowing this trite nonsense. Even when she's struggling to sound like the female Vince Neil on "Turn to Stone," it's so dramatically forced, it really is a challenge to take seriously ("I've got a lightning rod in my vein"? What the fuck does that even mean?). Party tracks like "Shibuya" or "Turn Up the Stereo" have a nice energy to them, but in the end, the album gets bogged down by trying to be something it should never have made itself out to be: emotionally vulnerable, which is so clear-cut, it's like sharpening broken glass on your knuckles....full text Becca's latest album sure does fit its title because that's exactly how it sounds. From the music to the vocals, everything have a very lively and upbeat tone to it. When you hear the words "female rocker" she is what should come to mind.

Her music reminds me of Avril Lavigne with more of the rock and less of the pop aspects. Becca is very passionate about what she does and it shows in her music. It's not a rough and tough as some of the hard core rock bands out there but it doesn't sound wimpy either. It's somewhere in the middle where you just begin to wonder what genre you're listening to. Is it rock? Is it alternative pop? Whatever it is, you'll probably want to listen to at least one more song....full text Have you heard of Becca yet? Well you are not alone, but perhaps ask your little sister she might know this new pop rock girl packaged as the newer generations Avril Lavigne. Well despite my lack of knowledge on Becca apparently she has been quite successful in Japan getting a deal with Sony Music Entertainment Japan and has had music featured in various tv shows. Her latest effort entitled Alive!! dropped on March 2nd in the states with help from Sony Red Distribution. Already proven successful in Japan, Becca attempts to capture the audiences within the states with her debut album with thirteen tracks spanning just over fifty-six minutes.

Pop rock anthems alongside ballads all driven by the vocals of Rebecca Hollcraft; that pretty much describes Alive!! in a nutshell. Oh and do you remember the 90’s jam “Bitch” by Meredith Brooks? Well, she produced the album did a great job too, except there is one little thing that she also helped write over half the songs too. This album has spunky hits as well as ballads but the target audience is definitely females between teenage years to early twenties. Nothing wrong with that it simply doesn’t appeal to me. Focusing more on the album Becca’s supporting cast definitely grooves perfectly alongside her, but the focal point of this is album is the vocals and she carry it perfectly for what it is.

One other gripe is the misconception presented by the covers and promo pictures, Becca may play guitar live, but she does not contribute any guitar on the album herself according to all the info about the tracks. She definitely has a future in the business and she is definitely getting a lot of assistance from people with proven success. As far as capturing the stateside audiences with spunky hooks like “I’m Alive” alongside strong softer ballad’s like “Empty” I think she will do just fine capturing the intended audience, hell at least she actually has a strong voice and the entire release doesn’t sound pro tooled to hell....full text