Mr. Misled, the “vanity project” of Metairie-based Chris Rico, has returned with a new nü-metal-esque effort via the single, “Settle the Score.” “Settle the Score” comes in with syncopated crunching guitars that make you immediately think of early Rage Against the Machine while the vocalist, Rico, seems to attempt to mesh the stylings of Linkin Park’s late Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda into one but without the vocalist ever truly finding his range.

At present, it appears Mr. Misled only lives on YouTube which perhaps doesn’t give the recording the audio quality that it deserves but the phaser effect on the opening riff is effective. A trick of some Metairie musicians lately has been to enlist scantily clad women, especially at their shows, to promote their work but unfortunately, when doing so, the musicians are isolating a slew of potential modern fans who tend to cringe at this sort of thing. (The promo artwork is Mr. Rico/Misled flanked by a bevy of barely dressed female fans/friends/colleagues). The rap hook seems a bit too Veterans Boulevard to really sink into the groove of the song. Overall, it’s an okay earworm that might do well on a B-movie soundtrack, but that’s also the beauty of making music independently—Mr. Misled doesn’t need to care what you or I think. The fact that he’s out there and creating what he wants is his right and he’s certainly doing it.