Alberta Cross, Broken Side Of Time
Anglos pay raucous tribute to their roots-rock influences with swagger and panache
If you were not equipped with any biographical information, you could spend a lot of time guessing before you correctly identified Alberta Cross's background as Anglo-Swedish. Their debut, 2007's The Thief & the Heartbreaker mini-album, bespoke a wholehearted infatuation with America. Alberta Cross managed the rare trick of paying appropriate homage to their influences — principally The Band and Neil Young — via modern descendents Kings of Leon, Black Crowes and Ryan Adams, without spending the entire album in a state of abashed genuflection.
Broken Side Of Time, Alberta Cross's first full-length, was written in New York and recorded in Austin. And yet, somewhat ironically, it benefits from a willingness, or perhaps growing confidence, to infuse gothic Americana with elements of unmistakably European stadium rock: "ATX" and "Leave Us And Forgive Us" evoke U2 circa Achtung Baby and The Unforgettable Fire, respectively. "Taking Control" flaunts a Muse-like fondness for portent, and the title track positively demands a live setting involving gusts of dry ice.
The distinguishing feature of the album is the extraordinary voice of frontman Petter Ericson Stakee, an instrument capable of flighty whoops and ferocious growls, and incapable of emitting anything that isn't arrestingly dramatic. Broken Side Of Time is the sound of a band rising to the considerable challenge of backing it.
