Rating: ****
Toronto is an amazingly cosmopolitan city in Eastern Canada. You might have heard of it. Some people call it the Manhattan of Canada. That might be a stretch but honestly "The Six" is one of my favorite cities I've ever visited.
Across the Board is a pop-group from that fair city and they have a new "Live From the Floor" EP and have released several videos in conjunction with it and I'm here to review "It Shouldn't Be This Hard".
I usually dig female-fronted rock and roll, so this looks like it might be right in my wheelhouse. There's only one way to find out though. I have to open my ears and eyes and judge for myself.
I'm gonna do that now.
Watch the music video for "It Shouldn't Be This Hard" on Youtube here:
The song starts with an odd sounding guitar that became likable way faster than I expected it to. We get into the verse and one thing's for sure, Jacqueline Auguste can really belt out rock and roll songs. The melody is rock-solid but the song really rides on the strength of the music and vocals being so dynamic and powerful. It's really catchy and the chorus will stick in your head like bubble gum in a synthetic Halloween wig. Lyrically, it is straight-forward without messing about with try-hard metaphors. I like that in a rock single. Excellent track that really makes me wanna check their other stuff out as well.
I'm really impressed by this single and video. Recorded live-in-studio and it sounds like a song that would have taken multiple takes to master. Really great song accompanied by a really great performance. Highly recommended.