Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders
Get The Money
Sony
There are times when you hear about an album coming out and you get all excited. You may not have heard of the band before but the musicians in the band are some of your favourites. This is what happened when I found out that Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters, Chevy Metal) had his own band. That is, until I listened to it.
My initial thought was “Oh! This is ok,” but it soon became apparent that it’s pretty far from ok. Unfortunately, the album is disjointed, confused and sounds like Foo Fighters and Queen gave birth to a less talented love child. There is no cohesion from song to song. In fact, the proverb “too many chefs in the kitchen” is what springs to mind as Hawkins brings out musician after musician including Chris Cheney, Brent Woods, Dave Grohl, Chrissie Hynde, Duff McKagan, Pat Smear, Nancy Wilson and Perry Farrell.
Even within the songs, there is just too much going on. From the first track, Crossing The Line, the Foo Fighters and Queen influences are unavoidable but also fail epically – and that is partially because some of the lyrics are taken directly from a Fooeys song. It just reeks of trying too hard to be something it’s not.
If you are a fan of Queen, Blue Oyster Cult, Van Halen and other 70s cult bands and are upset that they aren’t producing music any more, you might just get something out of this. The influences are so clear that it’s like a really bad covers record but with original music, which is a shame because Hawkins could have done so much with this. That’s the worst part. It’s bland and none of the tunes stick – instead, I have Foo Fighters’ songs and Queen songs running through my head as I sit here typing away. I expected so much more from Hawkins and maybe that part is my fault.
I am a big fan of Taylor Hawkins and also a fan of Chevy Metal who I recently saw live at Love Ride 33 in Santa Clarita in California. They were so much fun, so talented and were clearly enjoyed being up on stage. Chevy Metal is a 70s cover band but when you go to see them, you know that they are a 70s cover band. It’s what you expect.
Unfortunately, Get The Money feels like it is living through a mid-life crisis. It doesn’t know if it’s young or old; up or down; fresh or nostalgic. There is no doubt Hawkins is talented on the drums and can sing really well but it’s time he stopped riding the coattails of Foo Fighters and worked on his own identity.
KAREN LOWE
