Review: Affaire – En Route
Lions Pride Music (October 28th, 2024)
Reviewer: Jason Hopper
Affaire is a four-piece band that, according to their bio, have been around for over 13 years. This comes as a surprise to me as I had never heard of them before, with new album ‘En Route’ being their third full length album. Cut from the mold of the 80s LA scene or more recent bands like Crashdïet and Confess, there are aspects of this band that I like, and one glaring detractor.
I dig this band’s sound, especially their use of choral gang vocals to add strength to their chorus. I’m a sucker for that stuff and this album has that in spades. I sang along to nearly every chorus on this album in subsequent playthroughs. Some favorite tracks include opener ‘Joke’s On You’, with its great karma lyrics. ‘Never Grow Old’ has the best chorus on the album with the added bonus of a guitar solo being swapped out for a sax solo, which is a nice change of pace from nearly every sleaze rock album out there. ‘Way Out of Line’ sounds like it came straight off of Crashdïet’s debut album, which is always a plus in my book.
There were a few tracks that felt like filler. ‘You Won’t Be Missed’ and ‘Last Shot’ feel rather incomplete and/or disjointed, like the band should have spent a little more time fleshing them out. These songs will likely never be played live.
Then there’s the great sounding but strangely out of place synth instrumental tracks. Both ‘Initiation’s Over’ and the title track are short melodies and almost serve as interludes, but it’s pure synthwave and they stand out like a sore thumb. That should not take away from the tracks themselves, they just sound like they are on the wrong album. One other glaring issue about them is they both sound worlds better production-wise than the other songs on the album, which leads to my biggest critique.
The production on this album leaves a lot to be desired and will turn away a lot of potential listeners with it’s demo quality sound. One could say that the underproduction adds to the sleaze aesthetic. Perhaps if this was their first album, I would concur. The band has been around for thirteen years…and this is the best production they could come up with? The levels sound like they have been pushed too high and there are no softer parts to give the heavier ones more impact.
If this album had been produced by the engineers behind bands like Suicide Bombers, White Tyger, or Crazy Lixx, this could have ranked as one of the best albums of the year. As it stands now, I feel this album won’t have much of an impact. There are a number of bands out there playing this style of rock that have much better sounding sonics. It’s a shame as the band has the chops to make a name for themselves, but this recording does them no favors. Here’s hoping that for future releases they maintain the same fire and energy while putting more effort into getting the great sound this band deserves.
Tracklist:
- Joke’s On You
- Eyes of a Cougar
- Do It Yourself (DIY)
- You Won’t Be Missed
- Initiation’s Over (Instrumental)
- Never Grow Old
- Her Way or the Highway
- Last Shot
- En Route
- Way Out of Line
- More 2 Luv
- Take a Bite (Outta Me)
Line-up:
Tawny Rawk – Lead Vocals
Rick Rivotti – Guitars
Jonathan Bogard – Bass
J.P. Costanza – Drums
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