ROMEO SPIKE review in FAZER MAGAZINE

Romeo Spike - For the Cause review
April 23rd, 2009 | CD Reviews

Indie

Romeo Spike - For the Cause
By: Alex Young

http://www.fazermagazine.com/2009/04/23/romeo-spike-for-the-cause-review/

Romeo Spike might sound like a martini, but the grooves on the band’s debut disc go down so smooth you might forget you’re out of your seat and on the dance floor. For the Cause showcases the dynamic range of Mike Kunz and Donn Aaron and their endless ability to craft catchy choruses. The group reveals that they can wield a variety of traditional song writing techniques while simultaneously yielding unique results. Kunz and Aaron teamed up with the Grammy Award Winning mix engineer Matt Still to create the album. Still took on the task of producing and mixing Romeo Spike’s debut album, while he also performed on it by providing backing vocals for almost half the album. Together Kunz and Aaron prove to be an effective tag-team by blending disco rhythms balanced out by a sensitive touch on guitar that can also transform into an all-out funk odyssey. The band back up gliding jazz-inspired guitar runs with electro-dance beats that echo a love for Daft Punk on the song “Spaceman”. As Kunz croons bittersweet lyrics like “the bad taste/ stays with you/ so count the stains/ and wash them away”, he can still make them sink into a melody that can moves gracefully overtop of a pop-symphony on “Star Power”. The groovy guitar chops on the song, “Laser Beams”, almost seem like the soundtrack to a trip to outer space with a searing electric solo as the centerpiece. For the Cause gets increasingly mellow with songs that combine lush acoustic chords (“Candy Heart”), emotional melodies (“Sara Baby”) and speak of love as well as loss (“Yesterday’s News”). Although Romeo Spike’s debut album does slow down after its energetic start, the band continues to reveal their own identity rather than recycle radio hooks. If the band’s intoxicating brand of pop continues to propel itself by infusing energy throughout an entire album, an interesting follow-up from Kunz and Aaron could be around the corner.

www.romeospike.com