A Rocket To The Moon
A Rocket to the Moon is still a very new act to hit the scene. The project started in 2006, though at that point it was just current singer Nick Santino creating catchy electro/acoustic ditties and posting them to Myspace . The rest, as they say, is history. He quickly hit it big and got recognized by Pete Wentz’s Decaydance label. From there, Santino formed a band and began opening for acts like The Morning Light and Cute is What We Aim For.
On Your Side, A Rocket To the Moon’s latest release, is a radical departure from Santino’s previous work. Most of this change can be attributed to the transition from solo act to full-fledged band, but thankfully most of the charm of ARTTM’s older work survived the metamorphosis. It would be a stretch to call the change a genre-shifting betrayal (though some would disagree), but there is a clear lack of synth in the project’s current form. While Santino relied on it heavily in his solo work, it’s now used instead to compliment some of their more layered songs like “Dakota” and “Sometimes”.
ARTTM aren’t setting out to define the genre, but they experiment within the established conventions and come up with some worthwhile results. Not all tracks are worth your time, though. Some of the more stripped down tracks like “On a Lonely Night” and “Baby Blue Eyes” slow the pace to a creeping halt, and the album isn’t quite strong enough to recover. While it is nice to see Santino hearken back to the project’s roots, it fails to flow with the tone of the album.
Santino and ARTTM had quite a bit of hype to live up to. For some out there, expectations were probably met. For the rest, they’ll have to accept the fact this album is far from flawless and suffers from some damaging low points. On the brightest moments of the album, ARTTM impresses more than most acts of their ilk, but unfortunately those moments fade all too soon.
Review By DecoyMusic
Artist: A Rocket To The Moon
Album: On Your Side
Genre: Powerpop / Electronica / Experimental
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/arockettothemoon
- Tracklist -
01) Annabelle
02) Mr. Right
03) She’s Killing Me
04) On a Lonely Night
05) Dakota
06) Life of the Party
07) Like We Used To
08) Where Did You Go?
09) Sometimes
10) Baby Blue Eyes
11) Give a Damn
12) On Your Side