UnknownComponent

The Michigan Journal

‘In Direct Communication’ makes new edition to ‘indie rock’ genre

Alyssa Webb

10/7/8

While the lyrics hit hard, and the vocals ring with passion, the fact is that Unknown Component’s latest album ‘In Direct Communication’ stays within the confines of what music listeners have been hearing over and over lately: the same, tired ‘indie rock.’

If one can recall, not so long ago, when ‘indie rock’ meant something wholly different than it does now. A defiance of the norm. An independent and personal ’screw you’ to mainstream music. Now the newly chiseled genre is following in the same steps as its rebellious predecessors, alternative and grunge rock, and becoming a large part of the teenage angst mainstream culture.

Keith Lynch, the sole musical proprietor in Unknown Component, is doing something that is respectable and noble. The most recent addition to his music arsenal, ‘In Direct Communication,’ is his seventh independently released album, making him a true indie musician by common standards of the term.

It’s clear to see the talent that exists and tries to break away from the chains of the redundant, peaking its head out in songs like ‘Somewhere A Light Has Gone Out’ and ‘Retrospectively Speaking,’ but it is still obvious the influences that umbrella the tracks.

It will be interesting to watch when Unknown Component finally deviates from the common path and becomes something more than the norm.

‘In Direct Communication’ is available on Oct. 14. Visit unknowncomponent.com.