Album review: TiTORS iNSiGNiA - Get Yourself A Name ... and TiTORS iNSiGNiA's is pronounced confident, fiercely clashing yet charmingly soulful rock'n'roll

'The reign of rock'n'roll on my radio' has subsided with years gone by, faces its impending doom as an endless seemingly stream of pseudo-creative, quasi-quaint, feigned refreshing electronic abundance, pop glitter and shallowness emerges, seizes the scepter of radio airplay. This is no bitter, wrongful lament, it's facing and coping with reality. People search for distraction and amusement in songs - and one can't blame them - are hooked on sweeping, glowing melodies and catchy lyrics, on cheerful and virulent, energetic compositional light-weight. It's not a matter of 'growing-on' and 'growing-fond-of' music anymore, it's instant bond or rejection; tonal attractivity rises from vivid and dynamic music blends - and there are indeed some inspiringly bracing and keen synergies of ecletic musical genres - but what has happened to the pure, unaltered and rousing kind, specifically to the infectious and powerful glory of confident and commanding, of pushy, sassy and demanding rock swagger?

Bands, musicians claiming the rock guise to fit, claiming intense and thrilling tonal roars to mold their sound, are either blatantly brash in showcasing the sonorous, gritty and gravely clangorous features of their compositions, preserve and protect their trenchant rock'n'roll spirit at core, or cover, disguise said core with layers of blithe, melodically mellowing and briskly erratic appeal. Nowadays rock outfits are in transition, inclined to root for sharp and noisy rock'n'roll all the way, or to wash it out step by step, adapting a more smooth, sensitive, a more perky, whimsical sound. Bands, musicians search for belonging, they strive to make a ringing, reverberative mark, one that resonantes with the listener, thrills him, yet once their music is released, they most likely are labelled, narrowed down to a specific shade of the vast and colourful soundscape the art of composing offers, might be deprived of growing to their full creative potential just to meet people's expectancy. Don't get me wrong, neither is it reprehensible if musicians decide to mix in alternative melodic influences when coming up with new songs, nor if they rely on the hard-hitting edge that is rock'n'roll, yet decide to infuse their sound with vibrant, breezy accents to stress their adamantine rock centerpiece. What we all have to bear in mind though is the following: the music unleashed, comforting and exciting the listeners' ears and souls, is the artists' flagship, it's their medium of communication and expression, it's eventually what gets the musicans a name among their audience, what defines them and their sound ...

TiTORS iNSiGNiA care little about labels or expectancy, yet if there was a badge pinned on their compositional style, it would bare the name of class(ic) rock music, a proper dose of crisp, feisty clangor and fierily flaring, fulminant fury. Simply put, rock'n'roll at its finest, established with the smooth but strong sonority (occasionaly intertwined with mellow acoustic splendor) of 'Fair City Riots' and carried convincingly on with 'Get Yourself A Name', this time in a more boisterous, fervent fashion though.

Kay (lead guitar), Birchy (drums), Stuart (lead vocals/rhythm guitar) &
 Chris (bass) [footage by Ali Kat Photography]

TiTORS iNSiGNiA don't have to beg, plead or pray for listeners to like their music, the furious rhythm and dashing dynamics get them hooked on their own, as 'Beg, Plead And Pray' impressively shows: Feisty and fiercely flashing riffage rebels, chimes with an energetic percussion gimmick and is edged on by Stu's edgy yet melodic vocal performance. The fast-paced, ardent instrumental and vocal gush eventually makes for a catchy and gripping tune, one the listener finds himself enthusiastically tapping his feet along to. 

'Born This Way (But That's Ok)' swirls and buzzes a long way from the glittery power-pop anthem some of you might have stuck in your head whilst reading this. The 4-piece rock outfit's infectious belter verily kicks off with distantly blazing, fuzzy yet vehement riffage, is soon joined by dominant and rhythmically inciting drum beats, polished by sharp and dim vocals of mellow finish yet subtle sassy blaring. As the song approaches its atmospheric instrumental summit, as racy guitar riffs flirt with vibrant percussions, the listeners likewise realize that the lyrically depicted love affair is just wishful thinking, an intense, playful flirt past all hope.  

It's not only with a nostalgic and reflective lyrical narration, but also with  a vivace and sweeping instrumentation that 'Closing Time' satisfies. Firm and staggering percussion accents glimmer within a blithe and impetuous soundscape that is both dynamized by sharp, rough vocals of brisk vibrancy and later on mellowed by an imbuing, ambient acoustic guitar episode, evoking engrossing melancholia. The ensuing instrumental clash of vivaciously swinging chords and incisively clashing drum strokes picks up pace straight away and bursts with glowing energy. What a grand and forceful closure for 'Closing Time'!

'Get Yourself Name' comes in with absorbing melodic might, shows off with boisterous and reckless guitar pomp deepened by a murky, grungy and urgent bass line, fires off with a hollow, rapid and prompt drum salvo. Raw and keenly roaring vocal force marches on, reverberates with a pushy and cocky attitude whilst a tense and fiery guitar solo puts the finishing touches to the rousing rock extravaganza. 'Get Yourself A Name' has been the first song I've ever reviewed, back then for squarepig's fine music website, and I'm still on fire every time I listen to it anew. 

With an imperious and sharply piercing melodic layout - a thunderous and trenchant percussion cascade sounds, a swiftly evolving and daring guitar arrangement manifests - 'I Need The Real Thing' hails the listener. Scratchy and confident vocals prelude a ranging bold and boastful instrumental venture - a rebellious, fuzzy and audacious drum and riff concussion unfolds, intensifies with imposing aplomb and reveals the composition's real rock nature. 

Atmospherically cadenced, ponderous drumming fraught with tension supports throaty and perky vocals of passionate timbric imprint, falls into line with dimly brewing, suspensefully rampant riffage which steadily merges into a severely flaming and riotous chordal torrent. 'Kiss Like A Rattlesnake' builds up strongly, tumultuously and grows to be a solid, orotund commotion of sound. 

                                                                  Stu performs an acoustic set of 'Kiss Like A Rattlesnake' 

Given its grave, sternly raving guitar lead(in), its raucous, harsh but expressive vocals, its keen, thrilling drum beats, its overall tonal suspense and vitality, 'Lay It On The Line' is destined to be your new rock'n'roll anthem. Add strident and haunting backing vocals as well as a concise guitar momentum of gripping, almost pervasive temper to the list, and you quickly find you're in for an entertaining and heavily resonant music treat. 

A softer chord is struck when a placid and mellow melodic setting introduces 'Moving On': balmy, warm yet impulsive vocals of husky timbre coalesce with gentle, imbuing riffage, melt with softly resonating, dulcet drum sequences and thereby create a comforting tonal atmosphere, sum up, coupled with the song's pensive lyrics, a hopeful, even though momentarily mournful outlook. 

Dark and gloomy instrumentals open yet another more silky, sentimental track featured on TiTORS iNSiGNiA's second album. Sensitive still sharply reverberative vocals full of sorrow and regret moan about what has been bitterly said and done, long to rekindle bygone, disappointed love, and are clothed in an ambient, calm tonal attire. Smooth and cloudy, then excitingly rhythmic and radiant in sound, 'The Forgiving Kind' plays artfully with contrasts, remains rather emotional - both lyrically and tonally - though. 

High-pitched and edgy vocals allied with spirited and vividly sparkling guitar riffs herald an anthemic, electrifying composition. And that's exactly what 'The Sky's The Limit' is - dynamic drum beats rush in a bracing and perky manner, priorly jaunty riffage blurs out and adopts a hazy, eagerly oscillating tonal tinge, combined both eventually shape and inflesh buoyant, brisk and blustering rock swagger. 

Cadenced drumming and rhythmically harmonized riffage strides, soars and screams: raw and husky vocals of poignant, fiery timbre blend with acutely swirling and trenchant riffage, surges up with steady, hard-hitting percussions full of verve. 'Wake Up Wake Up' certainly captivates its audience due to accentuated, gritty and contagious guitar arrangements, due to arousing and stirring lyricism. 

Reach out &a listen to TiTORS iNSiGNiA on ...

... twitter ..

... facebook ..

... soundcloud ..

Get the band's debut album 'Fair City Riots' - which has also been reviewed on carpe carmina - here. 

Purchase TiTORS iNSiGNiA's charity single 'Freedom Fighter' (find a review of it on carpe carmina too) here and support ABF Soldiers Charity.

And if you like what you've heard and read thus far, consider to buy the rock outfit's second album 'Get Yourself A Name' here.

You're proud of being a fan of TiTORS iNSiGNiA's music? Show it and provide yourself with a tshirt (various prints) here.