Moments in Grace

Enlisting the massive production skills of legendary hardcore scenester Brian McTernan, the 12-track debut from Florida’s Moments in Grace comes across sounding like band with a wealth of history well beyond their two years. Their music is a soaring blend of Motion City Soundtrack’s keyboard-tinged melodic punk and Queensryche’s prog metal, akin to the last Cave-In record. Anchored by Jeremy Griffith’s convincing howl and punctuated by the band’s technically adept riffing, the disc has an epic feel that precariously walks a fine line between modern rock and the kind of echoey over-indulgent, over-produced stadium fare REO Speedwagon and Journey were guilty of inflicting on the world in the early ’80s. Yet somehow MIG manage to stay on the good side of the line and the result is a big fat lush sounding release with songs that retain their honesty and a shred of dignity.