Edgewater - South of Sideways

Good music has a purpose. It delivers a message. It makes you dance. It makes you dream. It makes you sad. It does something. But can an album’s purpose be nothing more than to be just something to listen to and still be good? It would appear the answer is yes and no, depending on how you define “good.” If you define “good” as being enjoyable music, and being worthy enough to maintain a sustained interest, then yes. If you define “good” as an artistic effort, taking chances and adventuring to do more than just make a set of songs, then no. Edgewater is another Wind-up Records product that sticks with the label's mantra of radio-friendly rock. Their debut album South Of Sideways is straight ahead rock filled with pop undertones and power chords but not filled with too much beyond par. The only purpose this album has is to rock. It’s not trying to sway you in any election, or deliver agendas on a war, or anything beyond love loss and pain and rock; unfortunately, lacking in substance causes the album to take a bit of a hit. While lacking in artistic purpose, however, this album does succeed a bit in the “mindless rock to fill the earphones” category. Listening to it off and on for a few weeks while working, I noticed that I never skipped over any tracks, even when the playlist was loaded with other, more substantial artists, and that the melodies slowly were sticking in my head more and more. The album is a pretty level field, with a few tracks sticking their heads up above the rest, most notably “The Story Of…,” “One Perfect Something,” and “Lifter.” Most all the tracks follow the same general sound and dynamic, making the feel of the album a bit tiresome at points. Foregoing much adventure for generic rock, the disc provides nice background music to a day’s work, but not much else. This isn’t a disc you would recommend to friends or suggest to family. It’s nice for what it is, a simple rock album, but in the end falls short of anything spectacular. Just a bit below average. [www.edgewaterband.com]