TALIA – Thugs They Look Like Angels

I give this album a 7.5/10. It is a Milwaukee’s best sitting in the shadow of PBR. However I think this group has the potential to be a truly great beer, a Bell’s maybe one day; familiar yet so good.

The Album Opens with the single American Bride, Which is quite frankly, explosive, and catchy as hell. TALIA is a French Group that singings in English. Their sound is reminiscent of that mid-90s to early 2000s post grunge sound. Like Foo Fighters, Creed, and kind of Blink-182. For people who like that kind of music, this album is promising. However, as the album goes on, I started to think, ok… This sounds a lot like the Foo Fighters. Which is not a bad group to sound like, but it is borderline replication of the Foo Fighters sound. This is a strong rock album full of focused noise, but they are trying to do something that has been done, and done by some of the best rock musicians in the game. If someone told me that this was a recording of a new Foo Fighter’s album where they put it together when drunk I would have believed it.

I do not mean this in the sense that it is sloppy, just slightly different, and not as practiced as a Foo Fighter’s album. If you are fine with that, and the group is fine with that, then they should just keep on doing their thing.

I think I hammered it in enough. I now have some positives to contribute. I admire the fact that this group has a sound that they are good at producing. That post grunge sort of punk inspired sound has a lot of room for growth. I feel that it was dominated by a few groups, and not explored as well as it could have been. I also think that this 3-piece group is talented and only has room for growth. The album is also something I did enjoy. I never once thought, “gah! This is awful.” I actually quite enjoyed it, but it was in the capacity that one enjoys a Milwaukee’s Best when there is PBR in the fridge. They are both Milwaukee beers, and essentially the same, it’s just that PBR is slightly better, and has been around longer.

This band has the overwhelming noise approach which would make The Who proud. The angst driven sounding vocals with loud pronounced bass, and hard played power chords, and wild drumming drive this album. The lyrics did not stand out to me in really any capacity.  However, the vocals work well with the music. This band has everything they need to be a good band, and I think that they could one day make it big, but if that is what they desire, they need to make themselves distinct, rather than hanging in the shadows of the greats.

This is good party music, and I think the energy that the group brings would make them a wonderful live act to attend. Sitting in my office and listening to them with headphones leads me to scrutinize. I know TALIA has talent. Like a defensive parent, I want them to apply it more, and give me something great.

I just want to see these guys, and girl do well. I like their style. Most of the songs start to sort of blend into one another, but this is their first album, so I have high hopes, because the energy is there. It is worth a listen to if you want a decent hard rock album.

You can give the full album a listen here.

-Sam Hill