A great Alt Rock album that I'll listen to often.

Hailing from Los Angeles, California, 9Electric formed in 2011 and released their 'Control' EP in 2014 before following it up with a debut full-length album entitled 'The Damaged Ones' in 2016. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Ron "Thunderwood" Underwood, guitarist Mikey Lopez, bassist Ginny Eck and drummer Nick Ramirez. 'Megalith' is their sophomore offering and mighty good it is too.

According to their press release the group hit the studio with one intention; "We stripped our sound down and got back to basics, writing songs that stood out on their own and weren't dependent on programming and production." It's a move that's worked well, although hints of an Electronic sound float to the surface intermittently. The production of Shawn McGhee doesn't let it stifle the sound so the guitar is more to the forefront. They also state that "it's the most honest record of our career"; with only two full albums and EP to their name, that's hardly a surprise but never mind.

For the most part it's straight-forward Modern/Alt Rock, but with some pretty cracking melodies that abound through the likes of the bouncy opener 'No Evil', the slinkier 'God And Man', 'Diabolical', 'Out Of Control', 'Dragging Me Down' and first single 'The Light' which features a duet with Butcher Babies' Carla Harvey.

Their cover of Gavin Degraw's 'I Don't Want To Be' gives the track a darker, more menacing feel and the sub-three-minute 'Breathe' is a punky blast. The record goes a little left-field with the unexpectedly acoustic-led 'Disposable Love' (but the electric solo is rather lovely), while 'Dark Matter' is a slow grinder and arguably the heaviest cut. 'Nothing 2 Lose' goes a little too Linkin Park for my tastes, but it doesn't prevent 'Megalith' from being a great Alt Rock album that I'll listen to often.

Ant Heeks