Guano Apes - "Proud Like A God" (RCA)

Rock and roll is no longer in, if it ever was. “Anything-goes” rock, on the other hand, adopting the sum-greater-than-parts rock ethic while incorporating as many damn other influences as it pleases, is currently very much en vogue. The music-buying mainstream in the ‘90s will tolerate and even laud bands who play straightforward rock—but only if said bands are willing to dress up what are essentially the same brooding, aggro-rock songs you’ve been hearing for the past 20 years.

Guano Apes show themselves to be willing and able proponents of this philosophy, unambitious though its teachings might be. Reduced to its soup bones, Proud Like A God is a solid, molten slab of psychedelic-tinged rock that occasionally wanders into experimental territory, but only stays to borrow pieces, not adopt whole cloth. What you get as a listener are songs that are both gripping and inventive, but sometimes frustrating in their unwillingness to push the envelope of convention too far.

Within the realm of pure catchiness, though, Guano Apes certainly deliver the goods. A few quick listens are enough to distinguish the dreamy choruses of “Maria” from the hardcore punk anthem “Wash It Down” or “We Use The Pain”, an odd combination of reggae vibes, children’s-story rhyming and flat-out heavy rock

Throughout the album, vocalist Sandra Nasic does extremely well as a unifying force for her band’s studied rock accompaniment, shifting from dry lung to croon or light rap without sounding forced. “Open Your Eyes”, which rocks to a fairly standard power rock groove, wouldn’t sound half as convincing without her stratospheric vocals (almost a ringer for Bruce Dickinson, of all people!). Nasic’s lyrics are hard bitten and energetically sung, only occasionally hitting moments of inanity (“Lord Of The Boards” and its farcically serious exposition on snowboarding). But both singer and band recover quickly, and the wealth of aggresively memorable hooks on the album makes sure you won’t dwell on those moments long.

Barring a tendency of Nasic’s to lapse into Gwen Stefani impersonations on certain cuts (“Rain” being the most unforgivable example), Guano Apes accomplish what they set out to do—pull together a smorgasbord of different styles (DJ scratching even appears briefly on “Get Busy”!) and use them as a subtle bed of enhancement for their power-trio stylings. And although a task for future releases would be to deepen and refine their sound to avoid sliding into middle-of-the-road purgatory, Proud Like A God is an admirable first effort.

Reviewed by: Jay Rajiva