Stardog Champion
When we get an email through about a band made up of ex members of the likes of Breaking Benjamin, Lifer (no not the Welsh lot!) and The Drama Club, we tend to sit up and take note – so when it happened the other day, we did! Stardog Champion is just this band, made up of Aaron Fink and Mark James (ex-Breaking Benjamin/Lifer), Nick Coyle (ex-Lifer/The Drama Club) and Josh Karis, and with a musical style simply described as ‘rock n roll’. With their debut EP, Exhale, produced by Grammy –nominated Neal Avron (Switchfoot, Everclear, Linkin Park) and described as ‘a product of passion and lifelong influences todays audience should be getting ready to absorb’, I was looking forward to hitting play and to see what was on offer.
Kicking into being with Aphrodite the immediate impact is striking, kicking in with a bass heavy melee of hammering guitar tones, thundering drum lines and deep melodic progression. Ushering in the vocals to complete the picture, the final mix we’re presented with is one which grabs your attention, pulls you in and keeps you listening from start finish. Rounding things off with a chorus that’s packed with hooks to get you singing along, the opening moments of this EP showcase a band who are out with a mission to bring real music back to the forefront, and seem to be doing it damned well. Even chucking a guitar solo in for good measure, this opening track holds all of the hallmarks of an anthem, just waiting to be discovered before becoming a classic – definitely a moment that you need to check out.
Moving on to Nothing To Lose the theme of melodic rock continues, keeping things moving at a solid beat whilst ensuring that the whole mix engulfs you in a warm blanket of solid rock. Catchy once again, there’s more of a raw quality at times here, creating a sense of urgency in the music whilst keeping the Stardog Champion approach firmly at the forefront of what’s on offer, continuing the progression of the EP with aplomb whilst continuing to push their own boundaries. As if we need further convincing of their ability to do this, When We Fall follows on and launches us into a groove orientated melee of hammering guitar work and deep, powerful bass lines, shifting up a gear into the realms of live anthem. Accentuating the power of the chorus through slowing things down, this track is striking in how it progresses, how it changes and evolves, and how it stands out as a serious contender for stand out moment on the EP. To me though, this is a track which will find its full force on the live scene, the sort of thing that fans will beg for more of, and lap up every second of when it’s performed.
Shifting their style once again for House Of Cards we’re led from the previous, heavy moments, into something which is smoother, darker, and hauntingly beautiful. Keeping melody at the forefront of the progression of the track we’re led through twists and turns until the chorus, when all of a sudden we’re offered up a catchy, in your face and hammering melee of straight up rock for consideration. Once again showing that this is an EP packed with tracks developed out of experience, understanding and love for what they’re doing, this is another live anthem in the waiting – one to crank up as loud as possible and sing along to at the top of your lungs.
It’s only then left to The Switch to close the EP, fading the track into being initially before presenting us with a laid back, smooth and emotional track to close things off. Standing out as the ‘ballad’ of the EP so to speak, the closing moments here move away from the powerful and in your face approach, instead finishing with a moment of reflection, giving you a chance to sit back and take it in, digesting it and allowing everything to fully work its way in, leaving you in no doubt that as far as EP’s go, this one has been pretty damned special.
When a band is made up of members with history like we’ve got on offer here it’s always going to be difficult to go in to listening to it without some sort of biased, but that’s not the case here for some reason. Standing up in their own right, Stardog Champion have cast to one side what they’ve done in the past, using their experience to influence them without relying on it, and showing that as a band, these guys are going to be a hell of a force to be reckoned with. Don’t go into this with preconceptions of what you’re going to hear, go into it open minded, ready to learn, and ready to see what real, heartfelt and beautiful music really is.
To find out more about Stardog Champion, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
Kicking into being with Aphrodite the immediate impact is striking, kicking in with a bass heavy melee of hammering guitar tones, thundering drum lines and deep melodic progression. Ushering in the vocals to complete the picture, the final mix we’re presented with is one which grabs your attention, pulls you in and keeps you listening from start finish. Rounding things off with a chorus that’s packed with hooks to get you singing along, the opening moments of this EP showcase a band who are out with a mission to bring real music back to the forefront, and seem to be doing it damned well. Even chucking a guitar solo in for good measure, this opening track holds all of the hallmarks of an anthem, just waiting to be discovered before becoming a classic – definitely a moment that you need to check out.
Moving on to Nothing To Lose the theme of melodic rock continues, keeping things moving at a solid beat whilst ensuring that the whole mix engulfs you in a warm blanket of solid rock. Catchy once again, there’s more of a raw quality at times here, creating a sense of urgency in the music whilst keeping the Stardog Champion approach firmly at the forefront of what’s on offer, continuing the progression of the EP with aplomb whilst continuing to push their own boundaries. As if we need further convincing of their ability to do this, When We Fall follows on and launches us into a groove orientated melee of hammering guitar work and deep, powerful bass lines, shifting up a gear into the realms of live anthem. Accentuating the power of the chorus through slowing things down, this track is striking in how it progresses, how it changes and evolves, and how it stands out as a serious contender for stand out moment on the EP. To me though, this is a track which will find its full force on the live scene, the sort of thing that fans will beg for more of, and lap up every second of when it’s performed.
Shifting their style once again for House Of Cards we’re led from the previous, heavy moments, into something which is smoother, darker, and hauntingly beautiful. Keeping melody at the forefront of the progression of the track we’re led through twists and turns until the chorus, when all of a sudden we’re offered up a catchy, in your face and hammering melee of straight up rock for consideration. Once again showing that this is an EP packed with tracks developed out of experience, understanding and love for what they’re doing, this is another live anthem in the waiting – one to crank up as loud as possible and sing along to at the top of your lungs.
It’s only then left to The Switch to close the EP, fading the track into being initially before presenting us with a laid back, smooth and emotional track to close things off. Standing out as the ‘ballad’ of the EP so to speak, the closing moments here move away from the powerful and in your face approach, instead finishing with a moment of reflection, giving you a chance to sit back and take it in, digesting it and allowing everything to fully work its way in, leaving you in no doubt that as far as EP’s go, this one has been pretty damned special.
When a band is made up of members with history like we’ve got on offer here it’s always going to be difficult to go in to listening to it without some sort of biased, but that’s not the case here for some reason. Standing up in their own right, Stardog Champion have cast to one side what they’ve done in the past, using their experience to influence them without relying on it, and showing that as a band, these guys are going to be a hell of a force to be reckoned with. Don’t go into this with preconceptions of what you’re going to hear, go into it open minded, ready to learn, and ready to see what real, heartfelt and beautiful music really is.
To find out more about Stardog Champion, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
