Band : Hurtsmile
Album title  : Hurtsmile
Label : Frontiers Records
Distributor : Rough Trade Benelux
Release date : 21/01/2011
Release : CD

Not only has Gary Cherone rekindled the fire in Extreme, but he has also found the time to invest in a side project, together with his brother Mark, called Hurtsmile.

As a matter of fact, besides the group name, you might be tempted to think this is a new Extreme album.  The music is in the same vein, with lots of funky influences.  In a period where a very big percentage of the music could be called ‘einheitswurst’, this is a rather refreshing sound to hear.  Not that I’m that big a fan of funk, bit this just sounds ‘happy’. Besides I’ve always found that Gary Cherone was underestimated for his vocal performances. The guitar work from Mark Cherone is also very appealing. There’s one track however on this album that does not belong on this album it’s "Just War Reprise", which is an excursion into reggae territory.  The last track "The Killing of Daniel Faulkner" could easily be mistaken for a Bob Dylan song, and also stands out from the rest of the songs, but suits the album better than his predecessor "Just War Reprise".

A nice debut album, not earth shattering but decent music.

80/100

Erik Morren.