Music: Chain Reaction: Electric Playground

Our Take

Though there have been quite a few bands named Chain Reaction throughout the past three or four decades, the majority of them have been disbanded for quite awhile and one of the only remaining ones is based in Detroit. Their newest release is entitled Electric Playground and finds the members of the group channeling influences that range from classic rock to blues rock. And though they have some elements that are a little rough around the edges the mix of styles and great guitar work is sure to make Chain Reaction appealing.

Electric Playground consists of six original tracks as well as a cover of Cream’s “White Room” and a rock version of “The Star-Spangled Banner”. Though it is a little unusual for a band these days to write an album that is only eight songs in length, this disc still lasts for 38 minutes as Chain Reaction writes songs that last anywhere from 4-6 minutes. This is definitely similar to older rock bands and listeners are sure to appreciate how the instrumentalists often jump into extended jams on quite a few of the songs. In fact, the guitar work as a whole is extremely impressive on Electric Playground and listeners may be pleasantly surprised to see that Chain Reaction can do “White Room” justice. The group also decided to go with minimal production in order to make the album sound closer to their live performance, and though at times this does make the vocals a little muffled overall this does make the group sound a little rawer.

Though Chain Reaction does have a vocalist, due to their extended jams he isn’t always the focus of their music and there are quite a few moments where the songs are purely instrumental. However, there are still a decent amount of moments where the songs on Electric Playground do have vocals and when they do the band’s singer Eric uses a melodic singing style. He has a decent amount of energy and even though the instrumentals occasionally overpower him he still manages to hold your attention. Admittedly there are moments where Eric seems to be pushing his voice a little bit too far and it sounds as though it is a little out of tune, but this isn’t enough of an issue to turn people away from the group’s music.

I would like to see Chain Reaction’s singer embrace his natural pitch and not try to push it quite as far, but aside from this the group definitely offers some memorable moments and they have a classic rock flair that is sure to appeal to quite a few people. I’d definitely like to see where they can go from here, as while the two covers or nice I think that these guys could make an even bigger impression if they continue to offer more original tunes. But overall I do like this disc and if you’re a fan of rock music that feels genuine I think you may as well.

http://www.chainreactionband.com/

Chris Dahlberg
August 02, 2009