Midnight to Twelve
XII
JKH Entertainment
5/10
A great poet once described the disturbed mind of an artist friend as “The melancholy madness of poetry without inspiration.” For every rock group that is hailed as the next great thing there is an equivalent to the disturbed poet driven mad by soulless poetry. Sadly, Midnight to Twelve is one of them. Despite the power chords of bassist Al Baca and throaty vocals of lead singer Jon Hartmann, the album is less of a statement of the band’s individuality than a derivative parroting of the many hard rock (and metal) bands that have come before. What we are left with is less like the musical equivalent of Beowulf, and more like the final act of Shakespeare’s Hamlet– a sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Beginning with the title track, “How Bad,” the band cranks up the volume and hits the D chord extra heavy, with Hartmann singing of the vague pain of seeing a friend walk away. “So what makes you think that I don’t see/You’re not doing what you’re told/So what makes you think that I need/I’m not buying what you sold”. Another track, “Don’t Know the Way,” finds him spitting out rhymes for a full four and half minutes, struggling to create a hook that works. If it weren’t for the superb efforts of the Tim Commerford-like Baca the album would sound even more like a bad amalgamation of Creed, Sevendust, and Daughtry.
If this album had come out seven or ten years ago, it might have been a much bigger deal. Alas, thanks to the overexposure of artists such as the ones mentioned above, it is more likely to be treated like background noise. Loud background noise. There is a bright side to this however. Despite the lackluster album, there is life after XVII for the quintet. To paraphrase another great poet, there is such a thing as failing upwards.
Overall, although there are components of the album- namely the tight bass- that are rock worthy, but the stale lyrics and formulaic tracks distract from what would probably be a good debut album. However, it is not likely to be the last anyone will hear from the Los Angeles based group. There are many reasons why this album isn’t worth plunking down $$$ on- and some have little to do with the band members themselves.
-John Winn