On their first release, Can't Stay Away, local hard rock band Disciples of Prime establish themselves with an album that succeeds as both pop-marketplace commodity and artful, radio-ready modern rock. Mostly written, produced and performed by core members Trish Kordas and Bryan Snyder, this record is front-loaded with its most accessible tracks, and then diverts into murkier territory as it plays out.
"Coco" and especially "Don't Media Your Mind" (the two songs that begin the album) are ready-made hits, with explosive hooks and instrumentation. Kordas' voice, which bears the slightest resemblance to Paramore's Hayley Williams, but with added menace, provides a handrail throughout the oceans of heavy guitar riffs and thunderous drums.
Later on in the song sequencing, Disciples of Prime take a turn towards more textural and psychedelic (as in Jane's Addiction, not the Chocolate Watchband) sounds, evoking Far Eastern and Asian music with sitarlike drones, spacey keyboards, and plenty of echoes. Can't Stay Away concludes with a pair of grandiose anthems, "Six" and "State of Their Fate," which tie the band's disparate styles into a unified and professional sound that can destroy car stereo speakers and singles charts alike.