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Institute - Distort Yourself

 

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RELEASED:September 13 2005
PRODUCER:Gavin Rossdale, Page Hamilton
LABEL: Interscope Records
BAND:
Gavin Rossdale

Chris Traynor

Cache Tolman

Charlie Walker

+
If you’re a Gavin Rossdale fan, this is just what the doc ordered.  Great production
-
Meandering lyrics, Lack of quality hooks

TRACKS:

1.Bullet Proof Skin 2. When Animals Attack 3. Come on Over 4. Information Age 5. Wasteland 6. Boom Box 7. Seventh Wave 8. Heat of Your Love 9. Ambulances 10. Secrets and Lies 11. Mountains 12. Save the Robots

OVERVIEW

I dunno how a guy married to Gwen Stefani finds time to start a new band and put out a record, but Gavin Rossdale’s figured out a way to do it, and thus we’re talking about Institute, the band Rossdale formed after the unofficial demise of 90’s alt-rock poster-boys Bush.  After Bush released “The Science of Things” (which I still like) and “Golden State” (weak), the band went on indefinite hiatus, but apparently Rossdale’s still got a few musical itches to scratch.  Enter Institute, which also features former members of Helmet, A Perfect Circle, and (obviously) Bush.  Recipe for success?  We’ll see.

            I tried to get around it, but there’s really no way to write this review without comparing Institute to Bush, so get used to it.  The good news for Bush fans is that “Distort Yourself” is chock-full of Rossdale’s sort-of-ambiguous, meandering lyrics, minor-key melodies, and mid-tempo power chord crunch.  The bad news is that it’s got a heck of a lot more in common with Bush’s later work (which I honestly tend to find kind of boring most of the time) than it does with their better work like the anthemic “Sixteen Stone”.  Nonetheless, there are more than a few well-written tunes in here, even though you’ve gotta dig a bit to find ‘em.                                    

SONGS

The first track on here honestly got me pretty excited when I first heard it – “Bullet Proof Skin” harkens back to the days when Rossdale wasn’t afraid to turn it up and let it rip, and the pacing on this one makes for quite an enjoyable first cut.  “When Animals Attack doesn’t quite cut it, but “Come On Over” is considerably better, brandishing a 90’s-rock slow crunch that allows Rossdale’s vocals room to breathe and grow.  “Information Age” sounds suspiciously like something Chevelle might’ve written, and both the chorus and chord progressions get a little tired by the end of the song, which isn’t a good sign.  “Wasteland” works a little better, and “Boom Box” dares to stray to the lighter side – not quite a ballad, but still pretty mellow until the chorus hits, and we’re slowly getting better in terms of songwriting quality.  I don’t know why I like that one, but I do.  “Seventh Wave” almost falls flat during the pre-chorus, but redeems itself with a decent chorus melody and some tight stop-and-starts, and “The Heat Of Your Love” even got my head nodding a bit, despite a disappointing chorus.  “Ambulances” takes the cake for best ballad on here, and (surprisingly) one of the best songs as well, not unlike Bush’s “Glycerine” or “Letting the Cables Sleep”, and Institute dares to put 2 similar-sounding songs right next to each other here, as “Secrets and Lies” follows in the same melancholy vein, just not as good.  “Mountains” is the last real rocker on here and isn’t half bad – not quite as good as more up-tempo songs like “Bullet Proof Skin”, but decent nonetheless.  “Save The Robots” slows things down to an introspective crawl, and, in true 90’s rock fashion, the closing ballad is one of the best cuts on here - a lighter-waver that just begs for a wrenching crowd sing-along.

CONCLUSION

There’s two things that really prevent me from scoring this record any higher than I did, and honestly, both are quite subjective.  First of all, I find that Rossdale as a writer is best when he’s at extremes, like “Save the Robots” or “Bullet Proof Skin”, either slow rock ballads or up-tempo rockers, but anything in between those two tends to bog down and lose my interest.  Secondly, the whole stream-of-consciousness lyrics that have always been Rossdale’s trademark don’t help this album at all, since they basically force the listener to focus on the melodies themselves, which are clearly a mixed bag.  Certainly not bad, but I’ll probably give my copy of Sixteen Stone more spin time than this.

Review by Matt Rewinski