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Artist of the Month: __
Album Review

By Chris Brach

When you hear the words Alabama and Rock music together one thing immediately springs to mind. If you’re thinking of the Southern Rock stylings of Lynard Skynard and their anthem to “Sweet Home Alabama”, we’re on the same page. Fortunately, sometimes you stumble across a band like Day’s Distance that breaks the mold of what you expected to find when you click play. Bands that break the preconceived notions of what you expected to find deserve proper recognition; for Day’s Distance, we thought they were a perfect fit to be our December 2010 Artist of the Month

Day’s Distance has been rocking the Southern airwaves of Florence, Alabama since April of 2009. Comprised of Hunter Watson (Vocals/Guitar), Corey Lawson (Guitar/Vocals), Jacob Sanders (Guitar), Joel Mann (Drums), and Mark Sanchez (Bass); the band recently captured their hard rock sound on their self-titled debut album in April of 2010.

Opening the album with the fast paced, aggressive track “Can’t Kill Me,” Day’s Distance wastes no time dispelling any Southern Rock expectations or prejudice you entered with. From the raspy guitar intro to the added vocal effects, “Can’t Kill Me” opens the album like a punch to the chest. It screams power from the time it starts through a great guitar solo, and a huge drum finale. It is hands down one of the best opening tracks I’ve heard on an album in sometime. In fact after hearing it, there is no way that you aren’t going to stick around for the rest of the album to see what other wonders the band has come up with.

Day’s Distance doesn’t disappoint as they keep the energy flowing on their second track “Runnin’ ”, which lives up to its title with some extremely clean, fast drumming by Joel Mann. Between his fast tempo and the kick of his double bass, the song literally ‘runs’. With the guitar support of Watson, Lawson and Sanders, this song has a frantic pace to it that further supports the name that is bears. The band holds its driving sound through “Now or Never,” which appears twice on the album. On the later version, which is actually the last song, they have some help through the accompaniment of rapper Algee. The result is a sound that I would compare to a more musically driven Linkin Park; however, considerably less electronic sounding. It made for an interesting take on what was already a solid song to begin with.

The band does slow things down on a few tracks, including “The Truth,” a solid ballad that has a very Bon Jovi feel to it especially through the chorus. At times I think Hunter Watson’s voice even sounds a bit like Jon Bon Jovi on this track. It’s a catchy song and is a well timed breather from the fast paced opening. But Day’s Distance doesn’t hang around in the ballad world for long; they get right back into their distinctive sound with “Superficial Savior” and “Change”. The guitar trio on this album is spectacular, there are some great solos to go along with the regular riffs on just about every track. I was a particular fan of their creativity and parity of their sound on “Superficial Savior”. There is a lot of guitar going on in this song, including a blusey solo in the middle, and every bit of it fits in its proper place. The same can be said for bass player Mark Sanchez’s efforts on “Change” as he sets the foundation with his heavy bass line throughout the song.

Before wrapping things up, Day’s Distance winds things down on “The Cycle” and “Give it All.” “The Cycle” starts out slow but evolves into a lyrically solid jam with a killer guitar solo towards the end. “Give it All” opens softly with piano and Watson’s vocals which evolve into a tasteful duet. It finishes up a well paced album on a more somber level than it started.

The impressive part about this self titled album, is that it is the first for the band. Based on what I have seen over the last year, it generally takes a band considerably more time to put together a sound this intricate and complete. While Alabama might be their “Sweet Home,” with music this good, it’s only a matter of time before Days Distance starts catching on everywhere.

"Day's Distance" is available now on iTunes (Click Here)

Hear a few tracks off of Day's Distance's album by clicking here

As the Webmaster and Founder of Rocksposure.com, Chris Brach is always looking for new music from up and coming rock bands. You never know, they could be our next Artist of the Month! If there is something you think he should give a listen to, email him at GetRocked@Rocksposure.com