Electric Mob - 2 Make U Cry & Dance

Almost three years after the release of their impressive debut Discharge, Brazil’s Electric Mob is back with album number two, 2 Make U Cry & Dance.  Once again the band takes a lot of influences from the rock of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s and along with the powerful, soulful vocals of frontman Renan Zonta (at times reminding me a little of the legendary late Ray Gillen) bring it into the modern day, but with a little more diversity than on their debut.  The album kicks off with “Sun Is Falling Down”, a hard hitting rocker with tons of crunching power chords and “Will Shine”, which is extremely catchy and has a really nice groove running under it.  Meaty rocker “IT’S GONNA HURT” and the edgy “Soul Stealer” do a great job of showing their more soulful side, while “Locked n Loaded” brings forth the Badlands vibe. Their diversity is displayed on the powerful “4 Letters”, with some stellar, at times acoustic, guitar work from Ben Hur Auwarter and Zonta’s emotional vocals and the funk tinged rock of “Saddest Funk Ever”.  “Thy Kingdom Come” opens with more acoustic guitar then shifts into a fast paced rocker, at times reminiscent of Van Halen.  Closing track “WATCH ME (I’m Today’s News)” has a really taut post metal edge to it and is definitely a different direction than the rest of the album.  It will be interesting to see if this is something they explore further on their next album.  There is absolutely no sophomore slump going on here.

(Frontiers Music)