Can’t Back Down is a new single from Philadelphia based alternative rock project, “Sightline Heights” (which is set to release its debut EP in June.) Though a lot of bands and artists have casually adopted the label of alternative as a descriptor of their music over the years, Sightline Heights’ Can’t Back Down strikes me as actually capturing the essence of the “alternative” music sound (as I imagine it anyway.) The tempo is slow to moderate, and the drums have a nice kick to them. The guitars have that nice, classic distortion, creating a coveted tone which really is the heart of this song. In addition to his guitar work, singer/songwriter Marc Eimer also does a decent job as vocalist, especially considering his parts are not particularly easy to sing. It’s difficult to actually “sing” at the volume required for this type of music while retaining artful clarity and without devolving into gravelly shouting or screamo type vocals, but Eimer manages to hold his own. Production quality on the track is excellent, right up there with any standard label release.

All in all, this is a pretty solid alternative rock song. I don’t really have any criticisms, but it would be interesting on some future releases to experiment with the sound a bit by adding in some unusual instruments, a synthy bridge or maybe even a surprise female solo. I wouldn’t really mess with it too much though as the artist has a pretty good formula so far.

For more info:

www.sightlineheights.com
www.facebook.com/sightlineheights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C4uv0LRWxI