Destroy Nate Allen – Awake O’Sleeper / 2006 Quiver Society! / 12 Tracks / http://www.destroynateallen.com / http:/www.quiversociety.com / Reviewed 25 January 2007

The very quiet sound in which “Holiday” starts is tricky for a listener. While the production values may be quiet, Destroy Nate Allen has a certain punk rock energy to the act that has been found in acts like Against Me and The Devil Is Electric for the last few years. One can even hear cunks of other acts like Defiance Ohio and even Contravene in Destroy Nate Allen’s song, but one must take that last comparison with a grain of salt: there is not the deadpan political recommendations present in Contravene’s music in Destroy Nate Allen’s. The same type of energy is present during “Ambulance”. The thing is that Destroy Nate Allen smartly keeps a lot of their energy back instead of flying off at the handle.

This means that the tracks are much better planned out in the arrangement department. While individuals might prefer the faster style, I would actually like to hear songs done in this way just to showcase the act’s arrangement and storytelling abilities. While the first two tracks forwarded a specific style for Destroy Nate Allen, it is during “Deep and Wide” where the act changes their style up considerably. In this tracvk, there is an increase in tempo and a modification of the guitars that are such a focal point for Destroy Nate Allen. With this track, there is almost a droning sound created by the guitar, something that creates a whole other realm of possibilities for the act.

Destroy Nate Allen moves to a more bouncy, sing-a-long style with “Come To The Mountain”. While this track makes sense in context, it also shows Destroy Nate Allen as a group that can come up with styles and approaches that were not borne out by the previous tracks. The ability to be spontaneous is always a desired trait, and it becomes more desired once individuals have the capacity to weave these jumps in styles into the larger fabric of the disc. Destroy Nate Allen may still be making a name for themselves, but “Awake O’Sleeper” is a modest album that showcases every aspect of the band. I sincerely hope to hear more from the act in 2007, and while this album covers pretty much every approach that I could assign them, I am confident that they will be able to come up with something completely different and put that in enough quantity to keep individuals interested with the band’s output.

Top Tracks: Deep and Wide, Come To The Mountain

Rating: 6.3/10

[JMcQ]