The Mohawk Lodge - Wildfires

They say the hardest thing about singing in a band when you're trying to make it is finding your own voice. Even Scott Weiland, who now seems like he was born to be a rock star, spent much of his early days in Stone Temple Pilots trying a little too hard to sound like Eddie Vedder and the other kings of the alternative rock scene. But over the years, he grew into himself. Maybe in a few albums we'll be able to say the same of Ryder Havdale of The Mohawk Lodge. Havdale spends much of his band's latest album, Wildfires, doing his best impression of Coldplay's Chris Martin. The good news for him is that his voice, and his album, really isn't that bad. The bad news is that a lot his material sounds like it stuff that ended up in the garbage bin of a Coldplay studio session. The Mohawk Lodge clearly has a knack for melody. This album is surprisingly accessible. The somber-but-steady "Wear 'Em Out" has enough pop to lift the album up and keep it moving. But the band would benefit if moved more in its own direction rather than follow those taken by folks -- and by folks, I mean certain British bands with lead singers who are married to Gwyneth Paltrow -- who already are wildly popular. [mohawklodge.ca]