DEFAUILT tHe raLLouwt

Default
The Fallout
2001 Universal

Default is a riff-driven rock
band from Vancouver. They
formed under the name The
Fallout, and were originally
produced by Nickelback’s
Chad Kroeger. “The Fallout”
made their break on the
Vancouver Seeds 2000 com-
pilation in... 2000. Even as
this CD was being shipped off
to the manufacturers, “The
Fallout” became Default.
Their first independent album,
The Fallout, sold over 2000
copies, which led to their sign-
ing with TVT Records. Their

Queen Street West
The Rebel Zone
2001 Sony

At first glance, the CD case
struck me as drab and boring,
however, once | popped the cd
into my player, | was pleasant-

_ly surprised.

The CD is soundtrack to
Queen Street West—The
Rebel Zone, a movie which
documents the development
of the underground music
scene in Toronto from 1975 to
1985. The time was one of
musical rebellion against polit-
ical, social, and music genres
of the day. The first major
influence began with the old

Phantom Planet
Live
2001 Sony

Phantom Planet’s latest
release, Live, is a five track
album that includes two tracks
from their upcoming album,
The Guest, as well as three
tracks that were recorded live
at The Troubador, in West
Hollywood. All the tracks are
catchy, make-you-want-to-
sing-along tunes that are sure
to be hits. With a sound some-
thing like “Wide Mouth Mason
does Brit Pop,” coupled with
somewhat dark lyrics,
Phantom Planet’s latest

major label album, also titled
The Fallout, is a combination
of nifty guitar riffs and formula-
ic song-writing that walks the
fine line between being main-
stream and being repetitive.
Every song follows the same
basic pattern, which could
potentially make their album
sound like an exercise in
cloning. Despite this, | found
myself enjoying the album,
mostly for the cool guitar junk
sprinkled throughout every
song. Yay for guitar junk!
Vocalist Dallas Smith fits the
music’s sound very well, and
as for the bass and drums...
well... they know how to play
their instruments, and they are

school punk sound of The
Diodes. Shortly after, numer-
ous other bands sprung up,
featuring the sounds of punk,
synth pop and_ reggae.
Eventually, the scene was to
produce the likes of Martha &
The Muffins and their hit Echo
Beach, Jane Siberry, and the
Parachute Club with Rise Up
that went Top 10 in many
places around the world.

The CD covers a wide vari-
ety of sounds, but a few tracks
border upon irritating.
However, it does an excellent
job of exposing the listener to
sounds that aren’t produced
any more, and there are also
quite a few tracks that are

release was quite entertain-
ing. There is the sin-along
appeal of Lonely Day, the
high-energy Nobody’s Fault,
and the somewhat darker
Shadows. Also included on
the album is California, the
first single off their upcoming
release, The Guest. This track
is also featured on the Orange
County soundtrack. This is
some decent alternative music
that has some _ interesting
ideas in the lyrical content of
the album. The only thing is,
since the album is only avail-
able at Phantom Planet’s con-
certs, and since they are only
touring in the US, it could be a

obviously playing the same
song as everybody else, so
they fit the band just fine. |
would recommend Default’s
The Fallout to anyone who
wants a regular rock and roll
CD without much experimen-
tal content. The final say: this
CD gets several stars out of
some higher number of stars.
—Josh

seriously good. The Rebel
Zone will make a nice addition
to my collection and | would
recommend it to anyone who
likes to listen to a variety of
musical genres.

—Mark

little difficult to get in Prince
George. | would recommend
waiting until The Guest hits
stores in February.

—Dana