Western Education was started on the UMass campus. The first member was lead singer Greg Alexander, the rest came to his call to form a band. The rest of the band is composed of Georgio Broufuas (guitar), Will Hunt (production), and Mark Ragusa (percussion). The band gets their influences from The Killers, Muse, and Interpol. The band currently has two EPs out, “Western Education” and “The Weekend Sessions.” Their first full length album, “Let Your Secrets Out” is due out on July seventh. The first track of the album “Rivals” was released in September of 2013, now we get another sampling of the album, “Peace” released just six days ago.
The bands desire to create big exciting choruses and hooks presents itself early on in the song with the triumphant guitars. The band has a big sound, but it is also a messy sound. The song starts with a playful arpeggiated synth, which continues throughout the song, despite soon being overpowered by those triumphant guitars. Lacking smooth transitions and integrated sounds, instead we get a group of instruments that are clashing with each other. There are times when the song comes together, but for the most part it sounds like there are two different styles competing. As they are a young band, I don’t see this as uncommon, so much as a step to developing their own unique sound.
They themselves admit to initially being dissatisfied with the electronic drums of producer Hunt, they brought on Ragusa as a drummer. I think the two together ends up clashing and the band should pick one to pursue. I myself prefer the synths and bass, but the overall sound of the band seems to be leaning towards the more pure rock and roll of drums, guitar, and vocals. For example, “Rivals.” It is also possible that this is one of the songs on the album that leans towards rock while there are other tracks that gravitate towards the electronic sound. Either way, with only this song to judge them by, I think I will give them some more time to develop before I add them to any of my personal listening.