Footlight Frenzy - "The Artist is Dead" Review - ROCKSPOSURE.....Be Heard

Artist of the Month
Footlight Frenzy - "The Artist is Dead" Album Review

Article By Chris Brach

Fallout Boy has fallen out (at least for the indefinite foreseeable future), leaving a gap in the rock world that needs filling.  While you could scour the world trying to find a replacement to displace the musical void, you won’t have to look much further than their home town.  Chicago’s Footlight Frenzy is far from a carbon copy of Pete Wentz and his fellow Windy City rockers, but they do share a similar dynamic in their sound on their recently released album “The Artist is Dead”.

One look at any of Footlight Frenzy’s websites leads you to one immediate and glaring conclusion, these guys are in it to have fun making great rock n roll and they’ll gladly take anyone that wants to join them along for the ride.  Given the catchy, aggressive arsenal they’re packing with “The Artist is Dead”,  it’s clear that they’re ready to deliver that experience every time you hit the play button on your stereo.  Having just released the album in August, Footlight Frenzy is hitting the streets with upcoming shows in Westmont and Chicago, IL to promote it.

“The Artist is Dead” opens with the rousing song “Bang Bang Daisy” which convienently has the albums title in the lyrics.  “Bang Bang Daisy” is a great opening track and couldn’t be placed better on the album.  It opens with a punch, finds some swagger in the middle for the chorus, and has an abrupt finish that leaves you wanting more.   I always find that setting the tone for the album with the opening track is key, “Bang Bang Daisy” flat our gets the job done.

“Restoring the Balance” speeds in to keep the momentum rolling on the second track.  With a blazing guitar and an unrelenting tempo, “Restoring the Balance” screams energy.  It’s one of those tunes that leaves you on the side of the road trying to explain why you were no where near the 65 on the speed limit sign you just passed.  I could see it being a real trouble maker.

As I eluded to at the opening, the comparison I kept coming back to as I made my way through the album was that of an early Fallout Boy.  Footlight Frenzy is not nearly as Pop Rock as Fallout Boy, but many of the beats, harmonies, and song structures reminded me of some of their earlier catalog. Given the success, it’s not a bad formula.  “From Fame to Framed”, “Expiration Date”, and “Wacky C’s” all seem to fit into this category.  Each catchy track is familiar, but all do vary a bit in flavor.

Closing out “The Artist is Dead” are three songs split into ‘Acts’ which play out as a mini rock opera.  As the main character follows his love into the afterlife in “The Necromancer” and “City of Stones”, he’s left with the reality that after finding her  in “.....of the Broken”, she’d already moved on to someone else.  This final ‘Act’ in the trilogy wraps up both the story and the album perfectly as it starts out instrumental with a drum and guitar loaded intro that is knee deep in some incredibly heavy bass as it slows down in the middle, only to end in a frantic storm of guitars. The three drama laced songs are a nice touch by the band and an entertaining way to wrap up “The Artist is Dead”

Lately the Chicago rock scene is starting to reveal just how strong it really is.  For a city currently void of any solid Rock radio stations, exposing the emerging acts within the city limits is a definitely a goal of Rocksposure.com.  Especially if they’ve got the energy and sound that Footlight Frenzy brings to the party.

"The Artist is Dead" is available now on CD BABY (Click Here)