POWER-POP FATALISM

“RAGE TO LIVE.” Rage to Live. Bar None.

Unbeknownst to many, a distinctive regional musical scene and sound coalesced in Hoboken, N.J. a few years back. Led by vocalist/writer Glenn Morrow, the now defunct Individuals were one of the leading bands to emerge from this power-pop hothouse, and Morrow continues to explore the themes that concerned his former band with his new outfit, Rage to Live. Utilizing the basic white pop vocabulary, Morrow recounts the coming of age of a middle-class American boy as he loses his innocence and subsequently regains it. Lurching into the future on an undertow of fatalism, Morrow’s songs recount episodes of frustration, despair and triumph. The form that salvation takes for this seeker can be found in four celestial love songs, the best of which, “Under Heaven,” shimmers with the celestial beauty of a Beach Boys classic.