:: McQueen - Break The Silence

McQueen

In their short four years together, Brighton based all female outfit McQueen have garnished a formidable reputation as a premier live act on the U.K. rock scene with their explosive support performances alongside acts such as Velvet Revolver, W.A.S.P., Wednesday 13, Hanoi Rocks and HIM. But if there’s one problem that most live acts have, it’s managing to translate that live energy and attitude in the studio. But for the most part, McQueen (who comprise of vocalist Leah Duors, guitarist Cat De Casanove, bassist Sophie Taylor and drummer Hayley Cramer) have managed to do just that on their debut full length effort ‘Break The Silence’.

The album opens up in a particularly heavy manner, with the band serving up plenty of volume and aggression in ‘Neurotic’. Duors certainly has a strong and attention grabbing voice (both evident in her melodic clean sung lines and her screamed efforts), while the band prove beyond any doubt that they know their way around solid riffs and a thumping rhythm structure. ‘Dirt’, much like the opener is another big heavy number where McQueen show that they’re anything but a lightweight act, while on the title track ‘Break The Silence’ and ‘Blinded’, the band experiment with dynamics by allowing the musician to stretch out a little more to create gentle atmospheric lows to contrast the crushing build ups in the choruses. In an effort to shake up the predictable formula, the band injects a punk influence into ‘Bitch’, ‘Not For Sale’ and ‘(Don’t Know How To) Break It To You’, while on tracks like ‘Running Out Of Things To Say’, ‘Numb’ and ‘The Line Went Dead’, McQueen deliver straight rock and roll with plenty of melodic hooks thrown in for good measure.

Despite the various styles of music featured on their debut (not to mention the various production values heard from the three producers who helped put together the album), McQueen have released a strong effort in ‘Break The Silence’, and one that more than hints at bigger and better things for the band in the future.