Reviewed by Paul S Ganney

The shoe-gaze rock band from Minnesota, Weathered serve up an album of accomplished pop/rock - nice guitar figures (such as "Lion's Den") underpinning a fairly laid-back vocal, the rest of the band providing odd flourishes but mostly sitting comfortably in the mix, knowing their place in the song. Mostly the songs lean more towards the rocky side, with distorted guitars and occasional heavy strumming. There's an element of bleakness to their sound - for example, the acoustic "Blue Van" sounds like an unplugged death metal band - the guitar playing is very basic and the vocal line is simplistic. The harmonies are quite nice when they kick in, but the closing line "sometimes you've got to ask God 'why?'" fits the mood perfectly. Alternatively, "There Is One" starts in a gentler mood, evoking memories of early Pink Floyd ("Strangers Here" also had a very Syd Barrett opening riff), then piles in with a more Wanted-esque chorus. On the electric numbers they particularly evoke Snow Patrol ("Forget About Me" having a good quiet-into-loud movement reminiscent of "Chasing Cars", of which the main two-note riff also invited comparison). Lyrically they explore various themes, the most overt faith-based one being on the closing "I Do Not Belong Here", exploring personal failure but Jesus' salvation - ending with a haunting repeated "not a stranger, but like a child I'm home".

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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