Tap9, a central Alberta band, recently released its debut, self-titled album, an offering that signifies the beginning of a new band that has reached back in history to when music was classic and golden.
The album contains a mix of soft rock with a Bryan Adams quality, country, jazz and blues.
Some of the slower, moodier songs, especially For You I Bleed, are reminiscent of Billy Idol’s Sweet Sixteen. However, no matter how similar Tap9 gets to other musicians in sound, they’ll always be able to stand their own; owing a portion of that to their spectacular brass section.
Sometimes lyrics are overly wordy “looking forward to what I’ve seen, not letting anything control me, riding free without a care, riding hard to anywhere, forget the past and let it go, it was just a lifetime ago”—Freeway
Despite their few slips with lyrics, the songs are incredibly catchy, especially Wanna Wanna, which is a smoky, powerful anthem that will run around in your head for weeks after hearing it.
The band has versatile voices with great tones that seem to contort and even distort themselves to match every songs atmosphere, from the carefree to the darker.
The songs themselves are also versatile.
Property, another of the album’s top tracks seems to include more than one genre into itself, creating a melting pot of music that’s good for just about any music fan.
The way Tap9 mixes their music is also different than most other genre-crossing musicians. They haven’t blended the mixes together to creating something indistinguishable, but rather let the music stand-alone alongside other genres to create a unique sound.
Even the messages of the songs are different than the worn out makeup and breakup songs flooding the airwaves.
Tap9 is a more intrapersonal album that pushes the feelings of humans outward, while adding head-bobbing, shoe-tapping music along, just to make it fun.
Freeway is the weakest song on the album, however that is only because the rest of the album is so put together and fine-tuned, without appearing overly polished.
Tap9 has discussed putting out a second album, and based on their first album, it will showcase great songs.
However, the band is going to have a hard time surpassing their initial efforts.
For copies of Tap9’s album, band member Orion Donison can be reached at 403-963-0937.