High on Stress – Cop Light Parade

Minneapolis has a storied musical history.  Luminaries such as Bob Dylan, Prince, The Replacements and even The Hold Steady have some sort of link to that chilly region.  After listening to Cop Light Parade by the Minneapolis band, High on Stress, I can’t help but feel they have done their regional, musical ancestors proud. 

The band is fronted by vocalist, organist and guitarist Nick Leet as his prints are all over the disc.  Leet had a hand in writing every track on the album, along with help from Drummer Mark Devaraj, Bassist Jim Soule and Guitarist Ben Baker.  Chad Wheeling on guitar rounds out this talented bunch that successfully blends catchy hooks, “jangling” guitars (jangling is a word, I think…) and lyrics about life that completely avoid the generic traps that many bands seem to fall into when concentrating on fitting into a specific “sound” or genre instead of simply setting out to craft a really great album. The tracks, “Cop Light Parade” and “Table 8 in Queens” feature sharp writing with lyrics such as “Why are we here?/Another slammed door for every changed gear/ We’re trying to find the quickest way back home“, in the title track, and then “Rock & Roll can kiss my a**, it never saved anyone“, in “Table 8″ seems to be clever ways to convey the uncertainty of hope and even desperation of an individuals desires (I could be wrong, but hey, I gave it a shot, right?).

The album also showcases some keen playing to match the smart lyrics.  Again, I’ll refer to the title track, “Cop Light Parade” and beg you to pay attention to the pedal steel that gives the song an emotive sensibility that only a pedal steel can provide with it’s lilting ribbons of sound.  “Memorial Day”, “Rhode Island” and “Tomorrow is Coming at a Bad Time” open to the aforementioned “jangling” guitars that seem to bounce as if they are an instrument of time-keeping percussion and not simply rhythm guitar. The album as a whole never attempts to rock too hard, or cry to softly, as a very pleasing tempo is maintained throughout each of the albums 12 tracks.

The “Genre” column on my I-tunes player claims that Cop Light Parade by High on Stress is “Country”. That just proves that computers do indeedmake mistakes, as I feel that label does a disservice to the complexity of the collection.  The album manages to combine elements of Country, Rock as well as Singer/Songwriter-Pop melodies into what is easily one of my favorite releases of 2008.