The Pitch: French trio Sycomore plays a combination of grungy alternative and metal on their new (name your price) album, Phantom Wax.
What I Like: Much like classic 90's metal/rock tightrope walkers a la Helmet, the music is simple yet effective. Hooks are based on infectious grooves that are certain to get the head bobbing and the angsty rebellion boiling. This band also gets quite a bit heavier than their peers at times with harsher vocals to offset the more harcore-sounding ones.
What I Don't Like: There are some segments that go for a more tremolo-blastbeat approach, and I'm not sure how well it works. I like that these guys vary up their sound, but this is just not one that seems to be additive.
The Verdict: If you like stuff like Quicksand, do yourself a favor and check out Sycomore. Put on the old flannel shirt, dust off the nihilistic attitude, do some stage-diving.
Flight's Fav's: "Miner forty-niner," "Bluestone's Phantom," "Manticore"