Big Hate
You're Soaking In It
(Flip/A&M)
Big Hate are a band in the midst of change. Live in their hometown Atlanta during the Olympics, the band's sound was a bit too heavy and in need of melody, but showed definite potential. On You're Soaking In It, their second Flip Records release and first for major label A&M, they find the melody they were looking for, but seem to have misplaced the heaviness that gave their performance its punch. Case in point: opening cut "Century," blissfully rolling but lacking the balls to make it rock. "Sufi" finds a fevered pitch, and vocalist Brian Stanger further displays his proficiency on "West Virginia," though the band-bassist and brother Adam Stanger, guitarist Rusty Cobb and drummer Stephen Planas-never commit musically, teasing with a Southern twang but doing little more. "Writers Block" is Big Hate at their cohesive best, bubbling into the INXS-esque textures of "Lo-Fi" before downtuning for the trembling grind of "Wrong." The album's second half offers much the same, "Dissapointed" fulfilling a path to dissapointment with its unsatisfying simplicity, and "Beauty Mark" finger-pickin' its way through a backwoods flurry for one of the albums hidden gems. You're Soaking In It isn't going to blaze a golden path for the Atlanta quartet, but it's an impressive launching pad that packs promise and potential. Give them time to muscle up and master the art of  delivering a knockout blow, and Big Hate are going to be contenders for the commercial rock crown.
Paul Gargano