Review: Innocent Bystander – When Things Evolve

I love the feeling of putting on an unknown album and immediately digging the first track and then the second and so on and so on. This exactly how I felt listening to Innocent Bystander’s first full length album When Things Evolve. It’s fun, it’s catchy, but it still has a rock/alternative edge to it without sounding too poppy like Fall Out Boy or Panic! At The Disco. “Stay” is explosively entertaining with its dance and groove rock beats. The song reaches a glorious peak when singer Joel Goguen picks up the pace and heavy drum beats follow. A small, yet still amazing, guitar solo emerges unexpectedly. The solo is definitely reminiscent of early nineties Metallica with its fast and high note playing style. Guitar solos have become a dying art form, a talent that has eroded from modern rock. I would never expect a band such as Innocent Bystander to throw in several guitar solos throughout the album and do them well. It’s not for flare nor just for kicks, but instead adds an unforeseen depth to the music.

The first single “Monitors” is obsessively mesmerizing with its pop rock rhythm. The song begins with drums far off in the distance, adds a screeching guitar, and then explodes into a controlled frenzy. The bridge is filled with cheers and a guitar solo that continues to escalate until it overflows into silence. The song is beautiful and fun from start to finish and couldn’t be more perfect for a first single. “Monitors” will suck you in and leave you desperate for more. It’s a steady and safe ride from there. The middle of the album will keep your head bobbing, but unfortunately the songs are not as bold and daring. They lack the assertive edge to break away from the norm.

“Murderer” offers a dark tale twisted around alternative riffs and not one, but two winding guitar solos. Joel tells us, “When daddy said to his little girl bye-bye / He never saw the treason / Never saw the murderer he had become.” This late in the album a solo is expected at the bridge. But Innocent Bystander throws us another clean and finely executed solo to end the song. The guitar playing is superb and always seems to flow in and out of the song perfectly. There is no feeling of, “Well that was awkward and misplaced,” in these songs. Everything has a place, a purpose.

When Things Evolve comes to a close with “In the Middle of the Night.” The song brings us full circle with that ever-so-fun pop tempo that was used in “Stay.” A thick bass line and high hat riding set a mellow tone that continues to meander through the song even when all instruments are at full blast. That clean guitar solo pops in again early on. It’s so smooth I feel like I may slide off the edge of my seat. Classic rock guitar playing has merged with modern rock to form a hybrid of pure enchantment. Overall the album is fun to listen to from start to finish, but Innocent Bystander needs to take that magic in the beginning and end of the album and apply it to every song. If they do that, they can truly emerge from the rubble of current modern rock.

Must listen to tracks: “Stay,” “Monitors,” and “In the Middle of the Night”

Check Out These Too!

1. Innocent Bystander
2. Review: The Senticsphere – Day One
3. Review: The Veer Union – EP
4. Review: Soundstem – Tomorrow Can Wait