Foo Fighters Bring a Congregation Full Of Explosiveness

Dave Grohl makes his job look easy. Single #2 from "Sonic Highways", a little something called "Congregation", carries with it everything that makes Foo Fighters one of those staying power bands. Taylor Hawkins drums with authority. He's along for this spine tingling ride wherever that someplace might be. Nate Mendel's square in the pocket on bass. Pat Smear leans into rhythm guitar like it was literally his lifeline. 20 years on I'd say it still is. Chris Shiflett knows his way around lead guitar and picks ideal places to infuse the vitality. Three cheers for true team effort. If you wish to label Dave Grohl the spokesman for the band be my/our guest. In any case Foo Fighters uncorks yet another exercise in cohesion as a band where what the working parts come together to do flat out screams "thing of beauty". As you might expect from a song called "Congregation" there's loads of spiritual reference points to draw to. There's this two sides of the same spiritual coin angle going with blind faith and false hope slugging it out for prime real estate in your mind. The line between blind faith and false hope looks blurred. One man's blind faith is another man's false hope. Ultimately you have to take the leap, crossing your fingers the whole time that someone will be close by to catch you. In and out, up and down through masterful chord switch ups go Foo Fighters. I salute them for remembering to do so. Keeps the blahs at bay. Watching these guys demonstrate how they go through their own labyrinth and come out the other side better people never fails to captivate my imagination. Obviously that observation holds sway for listening public representatives everywhere or we wouldn't be having this discussion at present. Momentum carries the day. They're fast out of the gate. You can't slow down the propulsion machine after it has left the station. That leaves Dave free to turn his driven personality up to eleven. Along the path of his distinguished recording career he's show a knack for keeping his vocal sights set on the node below boiling over. It's wonderful to see his hard rock devils come out to play. The battle scars dating back to Nirvana show up resoundingly here. Dave's the screech owl in this bunch. You'd also be right in labeling Foo Fighters rock craftsmen. Their attention to melody, contours, and stepping out of the control freak box to let the pieces gel to form a dynamic hole sums up how they've amassed such a quality body of work. For my taste "Rope" from "Wasting Light" was jaw dropping. Really solid beat you upside your fool head workmanship. "Congregation" works from a rock stylist's batch of paintbrushes. Different tack, same remarkable flair for a composition that earns the right to stand on its own merit rather than live in the shadow of its brethren. At the bridge we receive the band's theatrical side. It's short lived but not out of place. Zac Brown lends an assist. Not that this project's credibility required Zac's hipster quotient. Returning to the transcendental slot Dave ushers in the whole step into the light mysticism. The hearts beats inside Dave, voice on the stage, heart inside a cage. Ghosts of the past stop into this revival jam. Stem to stern "Congregation" begs for you to hoop and holler. Foo Fighters provide the amplification. Add heat, stir, and that's good musical eatin' for ya'. The legacy remains strong as ever.