Fragile Things - Broken Sun



Me: "Wow, a 2016 hard rock record that's not embarrassing...? Nice."

Racer: "Only the best for you."

It's decadence here at the Ripple Mansion; it truly is. I love this life.

So, hi: I'm Horn. You may remember me from such reviews as “Smoke Yourself Thin,” and “Get Some Confidence, Stupid!” Or such Fox Network Specials as “Alien Nose Job” and “The Five Fabulous Weeks of the Chevy Chase Show.” I started writing for Ripple in 2010, took the last few years off because of work (I know it's not a real excuse for the metalhead, shut your Goddamned face), and finally recognized the Disgusting Lack of Heavy in my life: hence this article, and those to follow.

Anyway, let's get to it: Fragile Things are a hard rock band from England, specifically Milton Keynes; they write the 2016 equivalent of late-80s hard rock acts like LA Guns, Sweet FA, and most tellingly, a somewhat now-unknown band from Nashville called Every Mother's Nightmare.

I say this because both EMN and Fragile Things use detuned guitars (i.e., not in standard tuning, but here in D standard) and write surprisingly awesome riffs (especially for a hair/glam metal band, which is clearly what Fragile Things aspire to emulate).
Broken Sun is a self-financed, four-track EP. Opener "The Enemy is I" sounds like Metallica covering Faster Pussycat: sweet blues-ish riffs over a memorable hook. This would've been Alice in Chains-y-heavy in 1989, and is still pretty awesome in 2016, where is more obviously hard rock and not, say, "metal."

Track two, "Open Cage," is like Love/Hate if they abused meth instead of pot and booze (complete with memorable gang chorus); track three, "Broken Sun," is the BulletBoys at their most adventurous, and closer "So Cold" is a lost Lynch Mob track: singer Richie Hevanz even sounds like Oni Logan, come to think of it.

Anyway, by this point you know goddamn well if you're into this. If you are, getchu some.

-Horn


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