Since forming in 2007, Seattle, Washington’s Girl on Fire have finally released their first full-length album, Not Broken, two years after their exciting debut EP Revenge. Showing off their hard alternative rock sound, Girl on Fire take this familiar style and supplement an empowering tone to the instrumentals. Although this factor stands out, their starting potential is shaken by the nondescript production of vocals. Even so, the memorable moods and feelings brought by Not Broken give Girl on Fire the attention they have been waiting for.
As soon as the opening track begins, Girl on Fire’s intent becomes clear. The outburst of strong guitar riffs and catchy refrains flow evenly in the track, giving significant power to “The Takedown”. This liberating tone is omnipresent in Not Broken. Not only is this exciting air distinguished instrumentally, but highlighted in lyrics as well. “Not Broken” takes on the role as the title track, and captures this empowerment with words like “I’m not broken, I’m alive / I’ve been kicked down, but I’ll survive”.
Girl on Fire’s intense tone on Not Broken give this record the spark it needs, but is perhaps overall diminished by production. While their debut EP Revenge showed color and layers, brought forth by the talented William Control, the overall production of the vocals and instruments on this new album seem rather flat and one dimensional. While every track encompasses the strength of songs like “The Takedown”, the quality of these instrumentals are tarnished by the aforementioned mixing and mastering of the vocals. This disappointment usually is recognized in the chorus; “Believe” begins as slow change of pace to the record, but continues into a repetitive chorus. These poor sounds are displayed on “Reminds Me of You”, as well. Like in “Believe”, the track starts as an interesting build-up but leads into a chorus of melodies with untapped potential. It is easy to see where Girl on Fire were trying to go with tracks like these, but could not succeed.
Thankfully, this does not continue throughout the entire album. Certain tracks make up for the vocal production by matching them with better-suited sounds. “Break The Chains”, for instance, contains a staccato tempo of quick guitar riffs. The rugged vocal tone that is portrayed with this track, as well as “Automatic Hurt”, revives the power that define Not Broken. They seem to capture a more hard rock vibe with the use of deep and melodic vocals in the verses. This raw style is mostly shown on the best tracks of Not Broken, giving Girl on Fire a chance to build on.
With Not Broken being Girl on Fire’s first full-length album, there is an obviously room for growth. Their potential is highly detectable for their memorable sounds and identities for each track, but gets diminished by the overall production that overrides the excitement of Not Broken. However, the impactful presence in Not Broken is something Girl on Fire can run with in order to find success once they capitalize on their strengths and talents. CrypticRock gives this album 3 out of 5 stars.
- Century Media
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