The Exit
Home for an Island
Available: October 11, 2005

Gone are the Clash and Police allusions of New Beat, The Exit’s 2002 debut. Home for an Island is a mature rock album ready for the pop charts. Reminscent of old U2, Sting and Sunny Day Real Estate, the New York trio used four producers to get their tracks just right and ready for a radio near you. The first track, “Don’t Push,” is ripe to be a Top 40 pop single, with a tribal drum beat, U2 soaring synths and perfect mixing (however, at over four minutes it could be 30 seconds too long for radio and the cover art could be too retro).

Although the guitar work isn’t complex and the lyrics try too hard to address politics and war, this album proves the group is primed for the American public. And that’s good, because although previously available from Some Records in limited production, The Exit’s Home for an Island is slated for national release in October. If you liked Fuel’s Something Like Human, you’ll love this album.