Music Reviews

Album Review: State Radio – ‘Year of the Crow’

By Jeff Swindoll Nov 14, 2007, 20:01 GMT

State Radio is a rock band consisting of Chad Urmston (vocals, guitar, former member of Dispatch), Chuck Fay (bass), and Mike Najarian (drums).  ‘Year of the Crow’ is their third album and the band has gone though some personnel changes since its creation in 2002. 

The band seems to be a mixture of rock and reggae.  They’re not afraid of putting political and social activism into their songs, so this might be a warning depending on what side of the issues you fall upon. 

The album starts off with “Guantanamo” and as you might imagine they’re not exactly singing a song about wanting to have a sunny sea holiday in Cuba.  In fact, quite the opposite as they think that anyone disagreeing with the current administration is heading there and make no bones about wanting to abolish the prison. 

“Fall of the American Empire” also doesn’t make it sound like the nation has long to last (though keep listening for a hidden track) but the song is pretty upbeat in beat.  The album has some good tunes on it, but again if you’re of a certain political bent and disagree with what the band says then you’ve been warned. 

I did like the beats and the occasional reggae thrown in.  However, this is “state radio” so you have to listen to what the state provides.