Roberto Lopez-Trigo/Contributing Writer
The Great SOCIO comes to the main stage with their heavy and grooving bass line, psychedelic sounds of the synth player, funky vocals, and lyrics that will make you question the society you live in.
This ensemble is not your normal, drum, bass, guitar, and vocal, four piece rock band, but instead they are composed of a trumpet player/vocalist, a bass player, a synth player, and a drummer. As of Dec. 2013, this band produced their latest EP called “Find the Time.” The band is heavily influenced by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, and Cake.
Last week my attention was brought to this band. I was told that they sounded a lot like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and were growing to be quite a sensation in Philadelphia. For starters, to be told that they sound like the Red Hot Chili Peppers was personally exciting and a huge compliment. Furthermore, to hear of new and expanding talent was exhilarating. However, I was skeptical of their sound. So, fueled with curiosity and eagerness I popped the CD into my old CD player and gave it a listen.
What I really liked about this album was the synth/jazz organ, the grooving bass, and the gang vocals. The synth gave the songs a different atmosphere from the most alternative rock bands. The Great SOCIO had a jazzier taste during slow interludes, and during the more fast paced sections, they filled in the sound holes that the funky bass could not cover. For instance, the work of the bass and synth are obvious in the song “The Worlds Alive”. In this song, the synth gives the music a lot of flavor and fills the sound in such a way that it feels like a really hip orchestra is performing the music. In the song “Criminals,” you can see the evolution of the vocals. It goes from rapping, to singing, and lastly to gang vocals. This creates a really cool effect; where an idea of the individual evolves and expands into an idea and motto shared by society, which is that “we’re all criminals”.
On the other hand, there were many things that I did not like about this band. Many times the band would confuse influence with imitation. There is a very fine line between the two and these guys crossed it several times. For instance, in the song “Let’s Go,” the ensemble goes in between imitating the band Cake and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and attempt to get away with it by adding a synth to the mix. At times I feel as though the vocal harmony was literally taken from the bands in question. In addition the overall flow of the singer during his spoken section seems to be a cross between Cake and Red Hot Chili Peppers. In this song, The Great SOCIO has no unique sound but just a second rate copy of the uniqueness of others; which, in my opinion, is an insult to those established artists.
Additionally, the rhythms that this band produces in their songs are fun, but don’t evolve. The drummer is an amateur at best and does not add anything special to the songs. Plus, the transitions between sections are not smooth but instead feel mechanical. It’s as if they organized the songs into blocks of different bands for mockery. All in all, these guys have the same problem that my band in eighth grade had and that is being bad and unoriginal. I got bored quickly and replaced their CD with “Stadium Arcadium” to ease my frustration with their sound.
In conclusion, The Great SOCIO starts out every song on a good foot, but fails to evolve and show their own distinguished character. The Great SOCIO takes the stage as the magician from Philadelphia, and out of his hat comes, not a bunny, but an EP filled with repetition, frustration, and unfruitful expectations.
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Reeked of arrogance.