Click.

Failure

1997 Supertone Records

Review by Vladimir Levin

Thanks to the band for the CD

Click.'s second album, following up on their self-titled debut, develops a heavy alternative sound with introspective, angstful (clean) lyrics backed up by a heavy bass groove, stop-n-start guitar and pounding drums sprinkled on occasion with some nice guitar effects. It is clear that Click. is trying to create a tough, yet catchy and radio-friendly, formula. This 40 minute long album sports 11 tracks with song titles like "manifold," "900 lbs," and "cranked."

While the sound remains consistent from song to song, the energetic and catchy execution staves off boredom. It's often challenging to find the right balance in the timing of an album, and Click. does a good job in this area, with development throughout the album from slower to faster rhythms that keeps one's attention from wandering. Too often it seems, albums in this genre of heavy alternative with hardcore accents keep up a frantic pace without sufficient variation, which causes the album to become dull as it progresses -- this is not the case with Click..

This album is not particularly original, venturing over terrain pummeled earlier by a number of other bands including Megadeth, Pantera, and Soundgarden. Nonetheless, this tough urban sound ought to have a place in the CD collection of most fans of such uncomplicated but well-played music. With its emphasis on a very chiseled rhythm section, dominated sound, "Failure" successfully achieves its goal: An aggressive, engaging sound combining enough hooks to satisfy a broad radio audience with a level of integrity and consistency that is worthy of respect.

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