State Radio CD Review
State Radio
Us Against The Crown
(Nettwerk)
State Radio’s Chad Stokes grew up in a seemingly carefree manner. Coddled by musical parents in Massachusetts, he was allowed to travel to and live in Zimbabwe after high school and then went to college in Vermont. So, of course, he makes protest music now.
“Raised in a free-spirited household,” Stokes is a “natural activist.” Sounds like he was bred. Sounds like it also, since he chose rock, punk, and reggae to enliven his ideals — he’s not much for originality either. In that sense, Us Against The Crown is the most likable anti-establishment record ever made — if you live in a fraternity. Swimming through layers of wah-wah, reverb, organ, and Dave Matthews, Stokes and State Radio have crafted the ultimate soundtrack for the vitriol you churn while watching late-night CNN in a barcalounger.
— Steve Forstneger
Appearing: April 14 at Beat Kitchen in Chicago.
