Genesis Underground

Album Review

It would be incredibly easy to look at the art and presentation of Eye Alaska's Genesis Underground and assume it was something of a cryptic prog-emo release — song titles like "Mutiny Off the Aleutian Coast by Rorrim Ehtni" and an extended liner note quote from Sir Francis Drake (consisting of an invocation to the Lord regarding the degree of things being settled) pretty easily point in such a direction. That's partly true, but the production presence of Matt Wallace is even more of a clear pointer, because Eye Alaska's other clear line of descent is one of Wallace's most famous production clients, Maroon 5. Genesis Underground might well be the only album of its kind equally balanced between the slick soul-pop sheen of said band with the rocked-up yearning of a group like Muse or Angels & Airwaves, constantly moving back and forth between the two throughout the album. For every immediate confection like "Show Me Daluv" there's a big swooping slice of melodrama like "My Soul, My Surrender." If it's to the group's credit that it doesn't actually fully fall between the two stools — singer Brandon Wronski's work, if very obviously Adam Levine-like in feel, goes equally well in both modes — the album is the product of a group clearly in the shadow of its inspirations fighting to create a little more direct identity of its own, a radio-friendly listen that sounds like a lot of already radio-established acts. Best song of the bunch: "Good to Go," where the band takes on a direct four-to-the-floor disco stomp and runs with it.