Scars On 45 - Scars On 45 Review

This mild-mannered English outfit first drew stateside notice when several of its songs were featured on "CSI: New York" and "Grey's Anatomy," and on its first full-length (following a pair of 2011 EPs), Scars on 45 sounds determined to maintain a home on TV. Strummy, harmony-glazed ditties like "Burn the House Down," "Warning Sign" and "The Way That We Are" feel custom-designed for emphasizing moments of emotional revelation, with ingratiating folk-pop melodies and lyrics about fighting in the pouring rain to hide one's tears. The band's catchiest cut remains "Heart on Fire," which also appeared on last year's "Grey's Anatomy" soundtrack; it's a welcome reminder of cuddly late-'90s/early-'00s hits by Scottish band Travis. But everything here-even the synth-speckled "Give Me Something"-hews closely to that tune's eager-to-please blueprint....full text After two EP releases and some delaying of the inevitable, Scars on 45 finally got to release their debut album. The debut album contains ten songs on the standard version, fourteen on the deluxe version, and fifteen songs on the deluxe version exclusive to AmazonMP3. Including the brand new song exclusive to AmazonMP3, out of 15 songs, 7 of these are brand new, eight if you count “Don’t Say.” That song appeared acoustically on the Give Me Something EP, all the way back in January of 2011. You can kind of say that song is half-new. So out of 15 songs, half are new, half are old, but all of them end up forming a solid cohesive unit on this self-titled album.

The new LP is a great listen if you’ve grown to like these guys over the past year or so. As far as production goes everything is a step above what was on the two EPs. The songs are crisper and they make more of an impression sonically. The two vocalists’ work here- Danny Bemrose and Aimee Driver- their work is exceptional on the songs that haven’t been heard before. What you can appreciate the most about Scars on 45 is the sincerity. That comes across on songs new and old. The new songs are better because they’re of course new, but all of them are great....full text If you like The Fray, quit reading right now and buy this album. If you don’t like The Fray at all, or are just kinda ambivalent… then keep reading? I guess it would be nice if someone read this.

To say the lads and lass of Scars on 45 remind me of the Denver quartet known for mix station mainstays “Over My Head (Cable Car)” and “How to Save a Life” isn’t much of a stretch. In fact, it’s a necessary evil that I need to get out of the way early. For one thing, they’ve both been featured on Grey’s Anatomy. The lead single from the Grey’s Vol. 4 Soundtrack that will have moms across America swooning is “Heart on Fire,” batting third on the Scars LP and packing a mature piano-pop sound. Also English accents. Swoon!...full text