Soldier On

Album review

Nashville indie rockers Mona burst onto the scene in 2011 with their eponymous stadium-baiting debut, which housed a swaggering set of alt-Southern rock bangers that invoked Kings of Leon by way of the Fray. 2013's Torches & Pitchforks was another bid for arena rock success, doubling down on the fist-pumping furor of its predecessor. The aptly named Soldier On arrived after a 2016 EP and a series of line-up changes, and while it is workmanlike in its intent, it's sonically adventurous enough to call a sea change. Nick Brown remains a compelling frontman, but his Bono-esque bluster has always seemed a little bit at odds with the group's garage rock aesthetic. Soldier On remedies that via a meaty blend of rock & roll pageantry and shimmery electro-pop that lands somewhere between the Struts and Imagine Dragons, especially on standout cuts like "Out of Place," "Thought Provoked," and "Kiss Like a Woman," the latter of which attempts to administer the kind of big, open-hearted and message-driven (acceptance and self-love) pop moment that helped to define U2 in their heyday. It only took Mona three albums to find their voice, and while the sound is certainly familiar, it's delivered with enough conviction and arms aloft vitality that it's hard not to get swept up, even if you can see the wave coming from a mile away.

© James Christopher Monger /TiVo