We've Come To Take What's Ours

Load Point Pull

Independent release, 2000

http://www.loadpointpull.net

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 08/19/1999

Something tells me that Load Point Pull, a Kansas City-based quartet, has the sound that Motley Crue would have liked for their last studio album. Something also tells me that this band is bound for something great.

Their independent release We've Come To Take What's Ours has some great hard rock that follows in the footsteps of the Crue and The Four Horsemen, only there a little more of a message and -- egads! -- a touch of humor injected into the music.

The band -- vocalist Frank Campobasso, guitarist John Pyne, bassist Doug Kenworthy and drummer Bobby Hoskins -- have a musical style that you'll instantly fall in love with. This is a band that has learned the lessons of the great hard rock bands of the '80s and '90s well, but they also make sure to put enough of their own signature into the music to keep it from sounding like a carbon copy.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

All of this said, I have to first talk about the bonus track, appropriately enough named "Bonus Track." It takes balls the size of watermelons for an all-male band to tackle two covers from '80s girl group The Go-Gos. It takes extreme talent for this band to pull off incredible versions of "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "We Got The Beat," right down to the vocal harmonies. You might laugh when you first recognize these songs, but you'll be surprised to find out how quickly you get sucked into them.

The original tracks are no slouch either. The first "single" (or, better put, the first track being called to people's attention on IUMA), "Sentimental Genocide," reminds me a little bit of "Hooligan's Holiday" from the John Corabi-era Crue... which I happened to like. The musical power of the band, combined with a powerful vocal laid over a synthesized bass beat in the chorus, seals this one for me.

Many other tracks on We've Come To Take What's Ours are equally impressive. "Rain" opens up sounding a little bit like Black Sabbath, but it quickly develops into a mid-tempo grinder that challenges the listener at each turn. "Monkey" and "Rush (Wash It Away)" are a perfect one-two combination to open up this album.

And while there are still one or two mildly disappointing moments -- "Stray Bullet"is a track I thought they could have developed a little more, and "Prick" is a little too much like Soundgarden for me -- the bulk of this album is one that is going to have you coming back for more, possibly even as soon as the CD stops spinning in the player.

The overall sound of We've Come To Take What's Ours is impressive, as if Load Point Pull were seasoned veterans of the scene. It never ceases to amaze me how some bands can nail their sound so perfectly on indie discs, while some major-label releases sound like they were recorded in bathrooms.

Load Point Pull is a band that happens to be in the right place at the right time. With the gradual resurgence in hard rock and heavy metal, it's only a short matter of time before someone picks up We've Come To Get What's Ours who can open up doors for this band. Here's hoping that door unlocks real soon.

Rating: A-

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© 1999 Christopher Thelen and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Independent release, and is used for informational purposes only.