Tack – Porn / 2007 Self / 10 Tracks / http://www.myspace.com/tackband / http://www.tarpitmusic.com / Reviewed 29 December 2006

The first track of “Porn” is a song called “Catman”, where Tack play a style of punk rock that is reminiscent of The Ramones during their “Pet Cemetery” era. Each subsequent track on “Porn” gives Tack another tack that they take. There are very few times on this album where it seems as if Tack is attempting to create one specific style and go forward with it. Each of the tracks shows that Tack can come up with a radio friendly song, but there comes a point which individuals can hear that the band is not creating an identity for themselves. For example, “Porn” is a track that has a hard-rock grind to it, but does not move beyond merely sounding like other people that have preceded them.

It is as if the band pulls listeners back to the days of Pearl Jam and Monster Magnet and keeps them there for three minutes. “Screw” is much of the same style, but the distortion on the guitar is much too limited and overused to bring the band up to any appreciable level. “The Well” tags a lot of its influence from both Type O Negative and Fear Factory, while being different enough from the rest of the tracks to not allow a great continuity to be enjoyed by “Porn”. “Twilight and the Ghost” is the first track done by Tack that individuals would perk up and listen to in the least, but the energy created by that dissipates by the time the band gets into the Disturbed-influenced title track, “Crackpipe”. Tack is a band that can only get stronger, as this album shows that there are so many paths that the band can choose from. With all of these different paths comes a problem with “Porn”.

The production may be solid and the tracks may be strong enough to conceivably be on any radio station across the United States, but there is so little in the way of cohesion tied between the tracks of this album. Give the band a few more years and chances are good that the act will have their own sound, but as this juncture this album seems unpolished and at times, like there are ten different acts playing under the Tack moniker. Here’s to hoping that the band can get everything together in the future and that the next disc will begin to show that.

Top Tracks: Palewaters, The Well

Rating: 2.4/10

[JMcQ]