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HOT NEW REVIEWS
Hinds 'Leave Me
Alone' (Lucky Number/NEWS/DGR Music)
Hinds is a new Spanish all female band playing Garage Rock in
the British tradition, sounding quite strong here on their debut Leave me
alone, which contains 12 tracks. It doesn't happen too often that within 18
months a new band releases their debut and already built up a name in the music
business, but this band has done it in especially the UK. Need to be said that
they were formed out of the ashes of a different band, but still a nice
achievement. 2016 could become their big breakthrough, because their first
album sounds fresh and rocks as good as the established acts. What makes them
just a little different than the countless other all-female bands is that they
are not sounding polished or moving into a safe territory, because instead you
get a very diverse and original garage rocksound that slowly shows an own
identity, which is what you need nowadays. Vocally it however isn't so strong
and here and there we miss some more structure. Highlight is the melodic lush
uptempo pop/rocker Castigadas En El Granero that reminds a bit of the Dum Dum
Girls (yes, still a comparison). One for the musicfans who like their music to
sound underground/garage-rock ish and not mainstream orientated. Check them out
at: http://www.hindsband.com
(Points: 7.7 out of
10)
Raglans 'Raglans' (Gentlemen
Recordings/DGR Music)
Out of Dublin, Ireland comes a promising new band called
Raglans. They already gained success in the UK and Ireland and are now bound to
break into the European territory with the release of their same titled debut
album. Although far from original, the indie pop/rock is perfectly done and
will definitely appeal to fans of all the currently popular bands in the indie
pop/rock genre. Opener Diggin holes is a guaranteed winner for the festival
sing-a-long crowd audience, because this is a dangerously catchy tune that will
wet the appetite of all Mumford and Sons and The Killers fans. It goes on and
on this way throughout the CD with a lot of catchy sing-a-long tunes (woo-ohh a
lot here!!!), but thankfully the high level is kept until the end, with quite a
lot strong tunes. The band has a superstrong vocalist (he shines in especially
the closing track Born in storms) and their tight uptempo catchy rocking sound
makes them a highly recommended band! Produced by Jay Reynolds (Pulp, The
Verve) and mixed by Brian Lucy (Artic Monkeys, Black Keys), there's absolutely
nothing wrong with this album. Highlights are the rawer Lady roll back the
years (fantastic tune!!!), the poppy Before night (reminding of the legendary
The Undertones), the calmer super melodic Down and the bouncing rocker The man
from Glasgow that touches The Strypes and The Arctic Monkeys. Sometimes quite
polished, but also featuring guitarsolo's (yes really!!!) and rocking here and
there, so all together a diverse band and without a doubt, Raglans are a band
to watch out for and a lot of potential hits can be found on their first album!
Could become huge in 2016! More at: https://www.facebook.com/Raglans
(Points: 8.6 out of
10)
Little Comets 'Hope
is just a state of mind' (TCBYML/DGR Music)
Little Comets is an Indie popband from the UK, active since
2008 and already a few releases done, of which Hope is just a state of mind is
their latest effort. Musically a bit quirky sounding, sorta indie pop, but then
with somehow a groovy rhythm that somehow has an 80s touch and during a song
like B & B reminding me a lot of The Police actually. The comparisons to
Sting and his old band are quite obvious, but Little Comets also has a modern
touch. Not a bad release, but also not really a classic or anything like that
at all. Check it out for yourself at: http://www.littlecomets.com
(Points: 7.5 out of
10)
Xoch 'Xoch' (Independent/USA Import)
The Las Vegas based singer/songwriter,
autoharp/mandolin/piano/clarinet player Xoch has been active for quite a while
now, with already 4 releases done in the past, of which we reviewed a few and
now she is releasing her strongest effort so far that is simple titled Xoch.
The band members around Xoch are Vince Ripper - Guitar, Harmonica, Mandolin,
Bouzouki, Songwriter, Producer, Skokie G – Bass and Will – Drums. The new
record is actually an EP, consisting of 7 tracks and especially the beginning
is very impressive, with Summer vacation, a lovely catchy pure early 80s rocker
a la Pat Benatar, followed by I know (strong bluesy melodic rockballad a la
Alannah Myles, great vocals!) and Never say never (semi melodic rocker, hit
potential, like Witness/Laos). This rather sensational start shows an exciting
band with a fantastic singer and a handful of great material, but the rest of
the album is less interesting. The CD closes with the Blondie cover Rapture,
which is nicely done, but it does not reach the level of the first 3 songs.
Nevertheless, Xoch delivers a recommended album, especially to those of you
into classic 80s inspired female fronted melodic rock. More info can be found
at: http://xoch.com
(Points: 8.1 out of 10)
Northcote 'Hope is made of steel' (Xtra Mile Recordings)
Northcote is the band/project of singer/songwriter Matt Goud,
who was born and raised in the small Canadian town of Saskatchewan. 8 years
after starting Northcote, there have been a couple of releases and Matt now
releases an album that could turn him into a major superstar in 2016. He is
joined on Hope is made of steel by Stephen McGillivray (guitar), Mike Battle
(bass) and Derek Heathfield (drums) and unlike in the past Northcote now sounds
like a full rockband, yet from a folk and singer-songwriter point of view. What
makes Matt special is his amazing voice and the only negative point is the
short playing time, which is only 32 minutes for 10 tracks in total on this new
album. Nevertheless, we are pleased to say that you will not push the skip
button here, because this is a very sensational record that will appeal to a
wide range of people out there. It starts with This Is Our Time, which is a
fantastic singer/songwriter acoustic rocker, with superb vocals that remind me
of a cross between Bryan Adams and the singers of The Stereophonics and The
Gaslight Anthem, while the song itself is a real catchy tune, kinda like a
stripped The Killers. This song has MASSIVE HIT POTENCY ALL OVER! Anyway, this
first track is followed by Bitter End (catchy uptempo melodic rocker, classic
style, very much like The Gaslight Anthem), Small Town Dreams (SUPERB, THE
CHORUS OF 2015 probably, once again classic elements and an almost ‘Summer of
69’ kinda rendezvous, huge hit potential again!), Hope Is Made Of Steel
(midtempo Tom Petty’s Learning to fly style, another strong song), Leaving
Wyoming (beautiful ballad), You Could Never Let Me Down (catchy uptempo melodic
rocker a la The Gaslight Anthem again), Bracelet (midtempo a la Tom Petty
again), Stronger Than You Know (uptempo poprocker, another Bryan Adams kinda
tune, with Bruce Springsteen elements), Just Kids (superb midtempo aor/melodic
rocker, catchy chorus!) and closing track is Your Rock and Roll, an acoustic
folky americana rocker. Now this is a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ALBUM, a must-have and
maybe one day a classic, but time will tell… Northcote could really
breakthrough with this album, so who knows 2016 will become the year of
Northcote from Canada. Meanwhile check out more at: http://www.northcotemusic.com/
(Points: 8.9 out of 10)
Garth Adam 'Here we are' (Independent/Australian Import)
Singer/songwriter Garth Adam is settled in Australia, but was
born in the UK, while spending his early childhood in Africa and Fiji before
his family actually moved to Australia. All his experiences and influences from
the memories of his different surroundings are reflected in his music, which
brings us Here we are, an EP consisting of 3 tracks. It’s his 9th
album so far, but the first one I get to hear. Starting with 2 Phil Collins ish
calmer pop/rock pieces, the best song is the quirky early 80s uptempo poprocker
Wherever you go, which sounds a bit like Phil Seymour. Garth has got a good
voice and I am very interested to hear more music of him. The whole sound
captures a sort of retro approach and I recommend you to check out Garth’s
music at: www.garthadam.com
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
Martina Edoff 'Unity' (Into Records/Sweden Import)
Martina Edoff from Stockholm, Sweden started her career as a
background singer, recording and touring with multimillion selling hip hop
artist Dr. Alban (!!!). After co-founding hair metal band The Poodles, she took
a break for a while and eventually started a solo career in the Classic
Rock/AOR/Melodic Rockgenre, which now brings us a really great new record in
the shape of Unity. The album’s first single The World Has Gone Mad was already
released prior to the album release. The single itself was mixed by multiple
Grammy award winning engineer and mixer, Justin Niebank, who in 2010 won a
Grammy for Album of the Year for Taylor Swift’s album Fearless (that sold a
stunning 9 million copies!!!), and he has also worked with Bon Jovi, Keith
Urban, Rascal Flatts and many other major acts. You can imagine that the
sound/production quality is close to picture perfect, but thankfully not as
polished and uninspired as the aforementioned top 40 acts, because Martina
truly rocks big time, yet always with an AOR soul. The album has a slightly
typical Swedish melodic rocksound, with an European orientated approach, which
means melodic heavy rock crossed with AOR hooks and choruses and very strong
vocalwork, kinda like Robin Beck, but then rockier and even reminding of
Witness also quite a lot. 11 songs are included, starting off with Unity (very
good typical Scandi melodic rock, uptempo, reminding of the legendary bands
Witness, catchy as hell), followed by Never Let You Down (bit weaker midtempo
tune), World Has Gone Mad (great midtempo radioready melodic rock, could be a
huge hit, also Within Temptation ish, great guitarsolo as well), Spirit of
Light (fantastic semi melodic rocker/aor, lovely vocalwork and an haunting
chorus), Come Alive (tougher but catchy uptempo melodic heavy rocker), I am
Mining (nice but standard uptempo melodic rocker), Love Keeps Turning Away (great
midtempo radioready melodic rock Within Temptation/Delain/Blonde On Blonde/If
Only), Moment of Truth (the typical power ballad is also present with this
song), Sound of Thunder (bit weaker, still Rough/Laos/Witness style), This Love
Is Crazy (very good typical Scandi melodic rock, uptempo piece), Caught in the
Middle (great midtempo radioready melodic rock, very strong final track).
Concluded, this is a super high quality production and an absolute must-have
for the fans of female fronted aor/melodic rock! All the fans of Witness, Laos,
If Only, Heat (Germany), Robin Beck, Perfect Crime, Dante Fox etc. etc. should
get this sensational record asap! More at: www.martinaedoff.com
(Points: 8.6 out of 10)
Unified Past 'Shiftling the equilibrium' (Melodic Revolution Records/USA
Import)
Unified Past is a progressive rockband from Syracuse, New
York, founded by guitarist Stephen Speelman in 1998, with already 6 releases so
far. Shifting the Equilibrium is the band’s 7th release and their 3rd
for Melodic Revolution Records. The line-up on the new album is besides Stephen
Speelman on Guitar & Keys, Victor Tassone on Drums, Dave Mickelson on Bass
and the legendary Phil Naro on Vocals. Phil has sung on many records in the
past that musically speaking were mostly in the melodic hard rock territory.
His excellent voice is definitely contributing a lot to this new Unified Past
album. I have to admit that I have sadly not heard any Unified Past album
before, so I cannot compare, but without a doubt, this is a very sensational
album. 6 long songs are included that are showing the band’s incredible talents
on all aspects, instrumentally (guitarsolo’s, weird keyboardsounds, tight
rhythm section), vocally (Phil is stretching his lungs to a high degree) and
songwise sounding very melodic and memorable, despite this is pure progrock
that live on stage could turn out into improvisation heaven. Spock’s Beard is a
good comparison, but then a little more melodic. Sometimes it is actually
excellent classic 1970s US Prog/Pomp orientated, sounding like a mix between
Yes, Styx and Starcastle, with lovely vocalwork and also those already
mentioned massive keyboard/synthsounds, mixed with Styx/Yes ish harmonyvocals
and melodies out of the Shadow Gallery and Enchant box, that all combined is
making this a nice adventure. There is also some progmetal and even neo-prog to
be heard, combining elements of the already mentioned Shadow Gallery, Symphony
X and Pendragon, so concluded, this is a very interesting release for all
progfans out there. It is lovely done and very high quality stuff that is a
must for fans of all the mentioned bands, whikle Unified Past still has an own
identity, so not a copycat at all here. Highlights are opener Erasure Principle,
Etched in Stone (fantastic!) and closing track Today is the Day. Make sure not
to miss this excellent release! Check it out asap at: www.Unifiedpast.com
(Points: 8.8 out of 10)
Lucid Dreams 'Build and destroy' (Red Ball Productions/Norway Import)
The Norwegian band Lucid Dreams released their debut in 2013,
now following It up with Build and destroy. The album has a huge sound and
features 8 tracks, which musically is melodic heavy rock with progressive metal
influences, reminding of Axxis sometimes. The guitarwork is very impressive and
especially songs like Wings of the Night (Vandenplas style) and Fear no Evil
(reminding of Pagan’s Mind) are very strong tunes. Vocally it is a little less
impressive and therefore it doesn’t reach the incredible high level of the
mentioned legendary progmetal masters of Vandenplas and Pagan’s Mind, but
nevertheless a band to check out for all the progmetalfans out there at:
http://www.luciddreamsband.com/
(Points: 7.8 out of 10)
Quorum 'Another world' (MALS/Russia Import)
I believe this is the debut album of the Russian band Quorum,
which took them some time, because they were formed already back in 2002 by
bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Dmitry Shtatnov and guitarist Pavel Barabanov.
When drummer Sergey Niconorov and bassist Vladimir Yanovsky joined the band,
they started recording demos and now the full-length album Another world is
released, which is a surprisingly excellent album that will be loved by all the
neo-progfans out there. Actually this is a high quality release that succeeds
on all aspects of the neo-prog field, including really good vocalwor by
Dmitryk. 7 lengthy songs are included and together with some really cool
keyboardwork, this album is a must to check out if you’re into IQ, Arena,
Pendragon and such. The highlights are Snow (pure neo-prog bliss), the calmer
Another World (very melodic sound, very strong melodies here and also lovely
long keyboardsolo, quite a hypnotic song, in 1970s style a la ELP) and ’86
(great guitarwork!). The album was mastered at Masterdisk, New York, so the
sound is picture perfect and happily so is the music. Every neo-progfan should
check this out asap at: http://quorum.su/en/
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
Sr Desguace 'Hinima impresion' (Independent/Spain Import)
Sr Desguase is a Spanish band playing a mixture of latin-pop
and western-rock, sounding a little like Santana. The project/band is formed around
Héctor: Bass, Román: Guitars, David: Drums, Muga: Keys, Pablo: Sax, Quique:
vocals and Pablo Lorenzo: Guitars. Together they recorded a nice 4-tracks
counting EP CD titled Hinima impression, which consists of La suerte echada
(Latin acoustic pop/rock, Santana ish of course, with a latin rhythm), Ración
de optimismo (catchy uptempo melodic poprocker, more Western European/American
orientated), Crece la estampida (calmer pop/rock) and Vagabundo (acoustic
piece). Vocally it is a bit weaker, but musically this is a nice little EP
which has that laid-back latin approach. Check them out for yourself at: http://www.srdesguace.com
(Points: 7.5 out of 10)
Blaise James Turbett 'Faith in the storm' (Independent/Spain Import)
Out of Spain comes Blaise James Turbett, a singer/songwriter
who recently released Faith in the storm that is basically a strong typical
singer/songwriter album in the style of Leonard Cohen and James Taylor,
sounding cool, calm and collected. The material contains a breezy mixture of
blues, jazz, folk, gospel, country and other moody sounds, sometimes sounding a
bit westcoast ish. Highlights among the 13 included tracks are Cecilia, Fallen
Again (great vocalwork during this song, a really high quality tune), Sweet
Star of the Sea and To Be With You (a duet with a great female singer called
Lisbeth Melgar). Although nothing new is happening here, it is done quite
nicely and fans of James Taylor might want to check it out at: www.BlaiseJamesTurbett.com
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
90 Day Jane 'Essence of time' (RVP Records)
Formed in 2008 after an internet hoax about a girl named
Jane, this Dutch band has released 2 EP's so far, of which Essence of time is
the latest. 4 songs are included and it is clearly American orientated rock,
post-rock and grunge are melted together with a melodic approach. A song like
Home is dangerously close to Pearl Jam and basically pure 90s grunge rock,
while the slightly more melodic rock orientated Stronger and the classic rock
based uptempo Your world are showing the band at their best. Far from original,
90 Day Jane are nevertheless making rock for the masses and they are doing it
very well if I might say so. Check them out at: http://www.90dayjane.nl/
(Points: 7.8 out of 10)
Wigg 'Sally' (RVP Records)
Wigg is a Dutch band playing classic 70s/80s hardrock, with
guitarsolo's like it was natural to do 30 years ago. Vanderbuyst and Vandenberg
are clear comparisons, but influences come from the classic bands AC/DC and Van
Halen. 8 songs are included on the band's debut CD Sally, which is perhaps to
some people a 'dated' standard hard rock album, it shows a band having fun and
there are enough people out there whom absolutely dig this kind of rock. Wigg
is a threesome and what they are doing on this debut album is a nice walk down
memory lane, so fans of mentioned bands can easily check out this newcomer
band. Check it out for yourself at: http://www.wiggband.com
(Points: 7.7 out of 10)
Matthew Human 'Shoes under my bed now' (Rock n Retail/US Import)
Sadly only one song from this rather sensational sounding Nashville
based singer/songwriter called Matthew Human, but the song Shoes under my bed
now already shows this is a talented musician. Hopefully we will be able to
review much more soon, because apparantly he has released 8 albums so far! So
to be continued soon definitely! Meanwhile check him out at: http://www.matthewhuman.com/
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
Squanky Kong 'Imminent insurrection' (Independent/US Import)
Now here we have an interesting band from Hollywood,
California, formed in 1994 by composer/producer James M. House (AKA Squankidonk
(skwon'ke'dongk), or Squanky/Squank for short), there have been various
line-ups, but the 3-piece band that recorded this new EP is sounding quite
complete as they have been together for a few decades. The music is
complicated, experimental, rocking and still melodic. Groovy heavy rock, with
big guitar riffs, melodic choruses, strong aggressive and melodic vocalwork
(Joseph Michael is an incredible singer), precise guitarsolo's, a funky bass
and a groovy rhythm, sorta mixing Mr. Big, Frank Zappa, Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Psychotic Waltz and Guns'n'Roses. The band has an own sound that balances
between progressive rock/metal, groovy hardrock and jazz-fusion-rock, which can
best be heard during the songs Repetition arising and Pressure tank that also
bring us strong melodies. You have to hear it for yourself to make up your mind
at: http://www.squankykong.com
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
One Wonders 'Heart over mind' (RVS Records)
One Wonders is a Dutch band, whom released their debut Heart
over mind in 2014, but it now lands on our desk and I am glad it did, because
this album sounds very impressive. 4 songs are included, so it is actually an
EP, but right from the start we are welcomed by something very good. Opener The
warmth inside is a really strong melodic progressive rock/metal tune that
reminds me a bit of Suncaged if anyone can remember that Dutch band! Next tune
Land of Gold starts calm and balladry, but develops into another very
impressive melodic progressive rock/progmetal tune that has some similarities
to Porcupine Tree and Anathema. Also the 2 other songs are a pleasure to listen
to. This band is really sounding interesting and it is a pity only 4 tracks are
included, because this is high quality stuff and you definitely want to hear
much more. Check them out for yourself at: http://www.onewondersmusic.com
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
Penelope 'Bounce back' (RVS Records)
Penelope are a band from Amsterdam, Holland and they are
ready to hit the rockworld with this album Bounce back. It's especially their
singer Vicky van Zijl who impresses, because she has got an incredible
rockvoice. Although opener Bounce back is a bit so-and-so-screaming rock a la
Anouk, next track Running around in circles shows that we are listening to a
great female fronted band, because this is an almost 80s inspired midtempo
melodic heavy rocker a la Doro. Baby blue follows, starting calm, but
developing into a 90s kinda slow rocksong with Vicky sounding at her best,
especially towards the end when the song heads into a haunting almost doom
metal kinda direction. Anyway, this is Rock with a capital R and a killer
voice. I am safe to say that Vicky has got one of those rock voices you
absolutely want to hear and see live on stage, because it reminds me of all
those great female rock singers from the past. Musically speaking Penelope is
offering good strong raw heavy rock with also great guitarwork of Allard
Zwemstra, but songwise some improvement could be be done on future releases
(for example a song like Dance alone is a bit average). Nevertheless, don't
miss Penelope at: http://www.penelopemusic.net/
and check them out live, as then they will probable impress even more, thanks
to especially vocalist Vicky!
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
Goom 'Solar motel' (RVS Records)
Goom is a Dutch powertrio featuring Erik de Vocht
(ex-Astrosoniq) on lead vocals and bass, Roy Jansen (ZEUS) on guitar and
backing vocals and Paul Jansen (ZEUS) drums. Their full-length debut CD Solar
motel is a nice adventure that takes us into a heavy groovy but melodic metal
direction that reminds one of Dio quite a lot. It's impossible to compare a
singer to Ronnie James Dio, but Erik has listened very well to Ronnie or just
sounds a tiny bit to the legendary King! A great song like King Instigator has
a lot of similarities to Dio, even the guitarwork has the typical classic
hardrock/metal approach. Of course there's only one Dio and Goom is Goom,
nothing more, nothing less, but I can't help it to compare Goom to Dio both
vocally and musically speaking. Most of the songs are midtempo and also quite
groovy, so perhaps a follow-up record could show some more diversity, uptempo
tunes for example and also here and there a few calmer tunes to break the
midtempo direction that is now hearable from start to finish of Solar motel.
Not a bad record at all, a band to watch out for in the near future. Check them
out at: https://www.facebook.com/goommusic
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
Serial Obsession 'Pull the pin' (Independent/USA Import)
The Brooklyn, New York based rockband Serial Obsession is
clearly bringing back the classic 80s US melodic rocksound. Although they are
linked to the sunset strip hair metal sound of Mortley Crue and Guns'n'Roses in
the band's bio, the songs are a little more melodic powerpop orientated, sorta
Cheap Trick revisited in the 1980s. Actually the fantastic 4 included uptempo
songs on their EP (Happy ever after, Be my drink, Better bad and Make it right)
bring back memories of such legendary bands like Stranger, Sequel, Why on
Earth, Know Illusion, Slyboyz, Rock Candy (dangerously close to their album
Sucker for a pretty face from 1987), Dirty Blonde, Strut (Unlimited access),
some Firehouse and the countless other underground bands in that mid 1980s
genre that combined happy melodic powerpop with hair metal riffs. Be my drink
is ther absolute winner, a sing-a-long tune that makes one dance and sing all
night long. The band has been active for a while, but this marks their debut,
an EP that should be in ther hands of every fan of classic 80s US Melodic Rock.
Must-have for sure, although don't expect anything new to the sound, but it's
done at an incredible high level and can sometimes also be put right between
White Lion and Ratt (especially closing track Make it right), so I think you
now more or less will understand how this sounds. Check them out at: http://serialobsession.com/
(Points: 8.4 out of 10)
Marco Santiago 'Blacker and bluer' (Independent/USA Import)
The American singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist blends
together traditonal American music styles, such as blues, singer/songwriter,
westcoast, americana and jazz. His music is very close to JJ Cale and then I
mean not only musically, but also vocally Marco reminds me a lot of that
legendary singer/songwriter. His latest CD Blacker and bluer contains 13
tracks. Most of the songs have a laid-back sound, a slightly groovy funky
rhythm and melodies straight out of the JJ Cale old school mixed with a bit of
Steely Dan. Not bad at all, done at a very high level, with precise guitarwork
a la Mark Knopfler a little bit. If you like the mentioned acts, then you
should check this out at: http://www.jango.com/music/Marco+Santiago
(Points: 7.8 out of 10)
Killing Tyranny 'Martyr' (Independent/USA Import)
The frontcover looks aggressive and punkrock ish, but the
music included on the debut album Martyr of the San Diego, California based
band Killing Tyranny is high quality melodic metal in the style of Megadeth,
Iced Earth, Armored Saint, Sanctuary, Savatage and Anthrax, so loaded with huge
thrashy metal guitar riffs, but also with melodic vocals and somehow catchy
choruses. Just listen to the song Caged and you basically understand the
description I made, because here we can hear clear comparisons to 90s Megadeth.
The semi-ballad God bless the child goes a step further, reminding of Savatage
and even a bit Alice Cooper, with nice classical guitar parts. The band is
formed around lead singer George Gregory, who sounds really great by the way.
Originally from Detroit, he settled in California during the 2000s, first
playing in a band called Outraged and later in Ironworks with former Sanctuary
members. His new band is Killing Tyranny and without a doubt, their debut is a
highly recommended album to fans of mentioned bands, although I have to say
that not all tracks are convincing, because a song like You can't save me is
below average, but on the other hand the Anthrax sounding The one is a real
winner for fans of that band. Nevertheless, this is quality stuff and should be
heard for sure and I think with a better sound/production and some more songs
in the style of mentioned highlights, this is a band to watch out for in the
near future. More info at: http://www.killingtyrannytheband.org/
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
Laura Berman 'Everything in between' (Independent/USA Import)
Out of Portland, Oregon, USA comes singer/songwriter Laura
Berman, who is originally from the NYC music scene. She already released 4
albums so far, of which Everything in between is the latest release. Laura is a
fantastic singer and the 7 songs on the latest album are a nice melodic
pop/rock meets 70s singer/songwriter adventure. Laura has a crystal clear
natural voice, which is a pleasure to listen to, reminding a bit of Carly Simon
(a lot!), Linda Rondstadt and Carole King. Highlights on the album are Voices (a
very catchy pop/rock tune that sticks in your memory for sure after you heard
it the first time, not unlike Robin Beck), while Revealed is a lovely calmer
ballad ish tune with a nice subtle guitarsolo. Know what you're here for is a
beautiful piano-ballad in the best tradition of Beverly Craven, Carole King,
Sam Brown and Carly Simon. Without a doubt, Laura is a huge talent waiting to
be discovered at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lauraberman
http://www.laurabermanmusic.com/
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
Sean McMorris 'Elecated man' (Independent/USA Import)
Elevated Man is the 2nd album of
singer/songwriter, guitarist and drummer Sean McMorris, who hails from New
York. He released his debut Lo & Behold in 2013 and now follows it up with
a really strong slightly more diverse record. I remember that his debut was a
strong melodic poprock record and Sean continues this style on the new album,
with some new challenges musically speaking. We can hear once again excellent
vocalwork by Sean and the 10 included songs make this a great high quality
album you need to check out, which musically balances somewhere between melodic
powerpop/rock, moody singer/songwriter and a little westcoast, like a mix
between Crowded House, Bryan Adams and Venice. Besides Sean, other featured
musicians are Christian Cassan (bass, drums, guitars, percussion), Bennett
Paster (piano, wurlitzer, rhodes, organ, synths), John Widgren (pedal steel),
Richard Feridun (slide, lead & rhythm guitars) and Roberto Cassan (accordion).
Highlights are Elevated Man (lovely pop/rock), Lay Down (midtempo
aor/westcoast, a little bit like Mark Spiro), Unspoken (great slowtempo with
nice keyboardsolo) and closing track 'Tis, which is a very nice calmer tune).
Nice return from Sean! More info at: http://seanmcmorris.com/
and http://www.facebook.com/seanmcmorrismusic
and http://www.seanmcmorris.bandcamp.com/
and http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/seanmcmorris
(Points: 8.5 out of 10)
Chris Dukes 'Getaway' (Always Records/USA Import)
Sadly only one song can be found on the CD-single of
Albany/New York based singer/songwriter and instrumentalist Chris Dukes.
Getaway is the title of the song, which is a very fine semi melodic
rock/aor/singer/songwriter piece with a catchy chorus that reminds me even a
bit of Reo Speedwagon! The song has a great guitarsolo and basically makes you
interested to hear much more. Chris is joined by an all-star band with Kenny
Aronoff on drums (John Mellencamp, The Smashing Pumpkins, Jon Bon Jovi, etc.),
Sherrod Barnes on Guitar (Whitney Houston, Roberta Flack, Quincy Jones, etc.),
Alec Shantzis on Keyboards (Mariah Carey, Daryl Hall, CeCe Peniston, etc.) and
other musicians. All together a nice line-up, but time will tell when we can
hear a full-length record of this musician. Meanwhile check out more at:
http://www.chrisdukes.com
and http://www.reverbnation.com/chrisdukes
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
Selwyn Birchwood 'Don't call no ambulance' (Alligator Records/USA Import)
Without a doubt, here we have a true winner in the
blues/rock/guitarworld! Selwyn Birchwood is the name of this young talented
Tampa, Florida based musician who released his independent debut album in 2011
and now follows it up with a fantastic first official label release titled
Don’t call no ambulance. He is not only shining on the guitar, but also his
voice is incredible, in a sorta low baritone kinda way, like BB King meets John
Lee Hooker meets Barry White (yes, really!) meets Jimi Hendrix, also musically
speaking you have to look in that direction (but then minus the Barry White
reference!). Besides Selwyn, other musicians playing on the album are Regi
Oliver on sax, Donald “Huff” Wright on Bass and Courtney Girlie on Drums. The
music is heavy bluesrock with a soulful touch and in the end this album turned
out to be a really laid-back diverse melodic affair, because Selwyn lets his
guitar sing the melodies, although as mentioned, his voice is also something
you got to hear a.s.a.p. He’s a sensational musician, who could easily become
as big as Joe Bonamassa or Gary Clark Jr.. Songs like Don't Call No Ambulance,
The River Turned Red, the beautiful Love Me Again and She Loves Me Not are just
a few examples of the 12 lovely tunes that can be found on this album. The
diversity in tempo’s, because ballads, rockers, uptempo pieces, slow and bluesy
tunes are all present and all together this is making him a must to check out
at: http://www.selwynbirchwood.com
(Points: 8.8 out of 10)
Original Stock 'Torn and twisted' (Maelstrom/Sweden Import)
Out of Sweden comes the band Original Stock, whom released
their debut EP Torn and twisted in 2014. The band was formed a year earlier by
drummer Adnan Smajlagic and singer/guitarist Armin Kesedzic. 5 songs are
included and this is definitely an impressive release. We have high quality
guitarwork here, especially during the solo in Trust. Little Queen and Knives
are great groovy melodic heavy rockers with lovely melodic guitarwork. The band
is very much based around the superb guitarwork of Miguel Cabrera Barneche, who
is originally from Rosario, Uruguay. The vocalwork is also quite good and all
together Original Stock is a recommended band to check out at: www.originalstockband.com
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
Tuff Love ' Dregs' (Lost Map
Records/DGR Music)
The Glasgow, Scotland
based band Tuff Love was founded in 2012, formed around Julie Eisenstein
(guitar, vocals) and Suse Bear (bass, vocals) plus live drummer Iain Stewart
(also a member of The Phantom Band). Dregs is their 3rd release so
far, containing nice mostly uptempo guitarpop/indie in the style of The Bangles
and Dum Dum Girls. Songs like Duke, Crocodile and Carbon are quite a pleasure
to listen to, very melodic tunes reminding of the mentioned bands, yet Suse and
Julie give it their own approach of course. More info at:
http://www.lostmap.com/tuff-love
and http://www.reallytufflove.com
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
Tommy Castro and the Painkillers 'Method to my madness' (Alligator
Records/USA Import)
Recently turned 60, guitarist/singer/songwriter Tommy Castro
from San Jose, California has been in the scene for over 4 decades now. He
played in the band The Dynatones during the 1980s, formed the Tommy Castro Band
in 1991 and released with both bands a lot of records before going solo in
2009, when he signed to American label Alligator Records. In 2012 he formed The
Painkillers around him and released The Devil You Know in 2014 and now a
follow-up titled Method to my madness. Tommy handles the vocals and plays the
guitar, while the other musicians are Randy McDonald (Bass), Bowen Brown (Drums)
and Michael Emerson (Keyboards). The music takes a bit of westcoast, soul,
classic rock and a lot of bluesrock, with songs that sometimes go for the
uptempo rocking mood (Method To My Madness), while also here and there throwing
in a lovely ballad in the shape of Died And Gone To Heaven that almost sounds
like Sammy Hagar and pure plain bluesrock like No Such Luck and Two Hearts. The
music is not far removed from Jimmy Barnes for example, but then with a more
soulful approach, because Tommy has got a fantastic soulful voice that can give
you the chills sometimes. On the other hand, he can also deliver a classic rock
direction and this all combined makes the album a true winner! Then I have not
even talked about the superb guitarwork of Tommy, because he is one of those
guitarists whom can easily play memorable melodies in a way we used to hear
from Gary Moore. Concluded, check out Tommy asap at: http://www.TommyCastro.com
(Points: 8.6 out of 10)
Shemekia Copeland 'Outskirts of love' (Alligator Records/USA Import)
Outskirts of love is the 6th album of vocalist
Shemekia Copeland, who already released at age 18 her groundbreaking debut CD,
Turn The Heat Up, which was in 1998. Now 17 years later, she has established
herself as a respected singer in the world of Americana/Roots-rock/R&B,
with as one of her highlights performing at the White House for President and
Mrs. Obama in 2012, where afterwards Mick Jagger (with whom she sang) sent her
a bottle of champagne! Anyway, her new album is a record that finds Shemekia
combine elements of Gospel, R&B and Americana, with a focus on her soulful
voice. Songs like Devil’s hand, Drivin’ out of Nashville and Jesus just left
Chicago are a few examples of her sound that will appeal to fans of Martha
Reeves, Aretha Franklin and such. Not a groundbreaking record and vocally not
as strong as mentioned legendary female singers, but still worth checking out
at: www.shemekiacopeland.com
(Points: 6.7 out of 10)
Lifeline 'Scream' (Escape music)
Now this is a brand new melodic rock masterpiece from the UK!
In the 1990s we had a few sensational releases from the UK that could nowadays
be classified as melodic rock classics (Atlantic being the ultimate one!) and
now we can add Lifeline as a 2015 sensational release. The band is formed
around Nigel Bailey - Vocals, Bass (Three Lions, Bailey), Lee Small – Vocals
(ex Shy, Phenomena), Paul Hume - Guitar- Backing Vocals (Lawless, Demon), Steve
Clarkson - Drums- Backing Vocals (Bailey) and Andy Bailey - Keyboards - Backing
Vocals (Three Lions, Bailey). Together they recorded Scream, which is a superb
piece of classic melodic rock that is especially vocally dangerously close to
Glenn Hughes (thanks to Lee Small, who is a superb singer) and musically
sounding like a cross between Fifth Angel, Dokken, Praying Mantis, with as a
few of many highlights the songs Fear No More, Far From Home and Danger In The
Sky. Perhaps not truly original, the result is nevertheless of an incredible
high level, with striking guitarwork out of the 80s volt, lovely soulful vocals
and a lot of catchy memorable hooks and choruses. Do not miss this gem if you
call yourself a melodic rockfan! More info at: http://www.baileyrocks.com
(Points: 8.8 out of 10)
Reverted 'Stripping the worms - The acoustic album' (Independent/UK Import)
Formed in 2010, the London, UK based band rapidly got a lot
of attention when they released theiur full-length album Sputter The Worms in
2012. A full-blown modern day groovy metal/nu-rock album that has now been
reworked in an acoustic version, with the help of acclaimed producer Pedro
Caparros (Breed 77, The Answer). Vocalist Tony Vega sounds like a cross between
Alice Cooper and the singers of Savatage and Metallica, while now in this
acoustic setting, the music sounds quite melodic and theatrical. The band is
also featuring guitarist Danny Ruiz, drummer Ozzy Preciado and bassist Luis
Lopez. The highlights on this album are the semi-ballad Time, which is the
opening track and the rocker Dispose of heartaches. Recommended to check out
at: www.reverted.co.uk
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
Dellacoma ' South of
everything' (Shock Records/Australia Import)
Now here we have a new sensation from Australia, although
lead singer Dellacóma Rio went solo for a while in the USA and the band is
partly Australian/American. Nevertheless, it is Dellacoma's superb Rock God ish
vocals which are making this band sounding better than all the similar bands in
the genre. Of course the groovy melodic hardrock with late 80s hair
metal/sleazy hardrock approach is done by countless bands nowadays and in the
past, all taking influences from Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin and Guns'N'Roses, this
new band is doing at an incredible high level. Without a doubt, this band could
become really huge if they are lucky. They have the looks, the skills and the
sound, while their full-length debut album South of everything is filled with
killer tunes that will be easily loved by fans of bands such as The Answer,
Blackberry Smoke, Blackstone Cherry, Rival Sons... There's even a touch of Skid
Row somehow, so mix all the mentioned bands, then you have the Dellacoma sound!
10 songs are included and most of them follow the groovy midtempo direction, with
the exception of the excellent uptempo Movin' on to something new of which a
professional video is shot, this is even a bit reminding of Foo Fighters.
Without a doubt, this is how rock and roll should sound like, Dellacoma is the
name of one of the greatest new Classic Rockbands! More at:
(Points: 8.6 out of 10)
Tragik ' Come and get it' (Rock
Company)
The history of me personally reviewing Phil Vincent records
go back 20 years in time to be exact, because already in 1996 I started
reviewing his music. Now many solo discs later, several side-projects, his
focus nowadays is Tragik, a band he formed with guitarist Damian D'Ercole, with
the help of a few session musicians on a couple of songs. However, still Phil
prefers to do everything on his own, which sometimes makes it sound a bit the
same after a while. Nevertheless, he does a great job and opener Where would I
be of the 6th Tragik album come and get it, released on Dutch label Rock
Company, this is one of his strongest melodic rocksongs in ages. The following
10 tracks are a surprise, because this new album is Phil's best effort since
his late 90s records. Highlights besides the excellent opener are the semi
ballad You are the one, Someone's gonna hurt you tonight and the hooky uptempo
80s AOR tune When the darkness falls. As usual, Phil's love for women is shown
on the cd artwork, so you have something nice to look at! Check it out for
yourself if Dokken meets Stryper is your kinda melodic hardrock, more at: www.philvincentbands.com
(Points: 8.1 out of 10)
Dirty Streets 'White horse' (Alive Natural Sound/Sonic Rendezvous)
It's already the 4th album of the Memphis based band Dirty
Streets, but their first to hit our office and I must say I am impressed,
because this album sounds quite sensational. It is a retro-rock thing that is
currently very popular among the youngsters and these 3 young musicians of
Dirty Streets completely fullfill the needs of bringing a bluesy classic
rocksound that is clearly influenced by bands such as Free, Bad Company, Led
Zeppelin, Blue Cheer and the endless list of 70s rock. The band happens to
feature a superb singer called Justin Toland, who also plays guitar and piano.
He is definitely the main man here and if you like Vintage Trouble, Rival Sons,
The Black Keys, White Stripes and such, then you will definitely fall in love
with Dirty Streets as well. The band's combination of soulful vocals (60s
R&B meets Paul Rodgers), catchy memorable choruses and a big groovy Jimi
Hendrix influenced guitar riff orientated classic rocksound, then you're
looking at a sensational release you need to have in your collection. Songs
like Looking for my peace, Accents and Think twice are just a few examples of
this highly recommended album! More info at: https://www.facebook.com/thedirtystreets
(Points: 8.7 out of 10)
Kristoffer Bolander '
I forgive nothing' (Tapete Records/Sonic Rendezvous)
Out of Sweden comes Kristoffer Bolander, who makes his debut
with the album I forgive nothing. In cooperation with producer Anders
Lagerfors, the entire album was recorded mostly live in just six days at
Nacksving Studios in Gothenburg. It also feels like it was created in a natural
surrounding, because mostly this is calm honest music, which can be heard right
from the start during opener Duet or Tourettes, with beautiful harmonyvocals
and only a keyboard as instrument, but up next we head more into a band
pop/rock direction that just feels very good while listening to I forgive
nothing and the beautiful Running man. Some comparisons musically speaking to
Jonathan Wilson, Radiohead, Coldplay and John Grant (just listen to the song
Rooted for example and look at the frontcover of the album) are possible here,
but Kristoffer has an own identity. The music is as already mentioned quite
calm and has some slight progressive rock elements as well, so a touch of let's
say Alan Parsons Project and Camel can also be heard, although the press seems
to compare him to Neil Young constantly, but I do feel a sorta Scandi dark
approach much more and the combination of indie pop/rock, singer/songwriter,
some electronic vibes, artrock and progrock seems to be a better description.
It all feels new and fresh, beautiful and melodic, accessible for basically
everyone during especially a song like Home and therefore recommended!
Kristoffer's vocals are high pitched all the time (Coldplay ish) and that is
something you got to love. Anyway, more info at: https://soundcloud.com/kristoffer-bolander
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
Lota Red ' The Green Memphis' (Wolverine
Records/Sonic Rendezvous)
Formed all the way back in 1987
in Berlin, Germany, the band Lota Red is delivering a nice mixture of all kinds
of alternative styles, such as Rock 'n' Roll, Psychobilly, Punk/Rock,
Rockabilly and Alternative Country. The result is quite nice actually, original
and during the uptempo tunes somehow reminding of Billy Idol. I am not familiar
with the band’s earlier work, but on their latest album The Green Memphis songs
like More Things to Change (slower tempo like David Bowie meets Billy Idol) and
Sometimes (another slowtemnpo tune a la Nick Cave) are very impressive, but
also the uptempo rockabilly tunes are a pleasure to listen to. Lota Red is live
quite interesting to check out I think, but rockabilly acts are live on stage
always fun to watch. More info at: www.lotared.com
(Points: 7.8 out of 10)
Mark Davis and the Inklings
'Because there's nothing outside' (Bitemark/Hemifran)
Bob Dylan meets Radiohead is a
decription I noticed about Mark Davis and the Inklings. I feel there’s
something more than just that, because Mark offers quite original material on
the latest album Because there’s nothing outside. It is a sorta typical
alternative singer/songwriter style a la Ryan Adams and Jason Isbell, with a
voice which reminds me somehow of Tom Petty and also during the first 3 songs
the pop/rock does sound a bit like Tom. These are the songs Everybody's born
believing, Spoiling the game and Your photograph. On the other hand, there’s
also a piano ballad called The ground that could well be a John Lennon song,
also vocally!. So all together we have a good quality album here, which is
original and still reminding of the past, a slightly 1970s approach can be
heard. More at www.markdavisandtheinklings.com
(Points: 8.1 out of 10)
Hurricane #1 'Find what you
love and let it kill you' (Tapete Records/Sonic Rendezvous)
Hurricane #1 is a band from
Oxford, UK, formed all the way back in 1996 by guitarist Andy Bell, vocalist /
guitarist Alex Lowe, bassist Will Pepper and drummer Gareth Farmer. After
releasing two albums within 3 years during the 1990s, they broke-up in 1999.
Andy eventually joined Oasis, while Alex started a solo career, but 15 years
later in 2014, Hurricane #1 reformed and now released a new album titled Find
What You Love and Let It Kill You. Although at the beginning of the album it is
a bit struggling what the direction will be, because they somehow want to rock
alternatively, but eventually this albums turns out to be a great radiofriendly
calm melodic pop/rock album that is not far removed from The Posies, Calexico,
Wilco, Crowded House and such acts. If we go through the tracklisting, the
album starts with Best Is Yet To Come, which is nice Americana meets
Alternative pop/rock, midtempo tune with a sorta REM ish chorus and also
somehow Neil Young similarities. Followed by Crash (uptempo altrocker a la
Stereophonics), Feel Me Now Again (acoustic piece, melodic rock ish ballad,
very strong song), Think of the Sunshine (great melodic pop/rocker, catchy and
radio-ready, huge hit possible here!), Has It Begun (Imitating Life) (very much
like The Posies/Calexico/Wilco), Coyote Ahoy (great semi-acoustic song), Round
In Circles (westcoast indie folk, many harmonyvocals, beautiful, lovely guitarsolo),
Heathen Mother (nice semi acoustic pop/rock), Where To Begin (uptempo altrocker
a la Stereophonics), Leave It All Behind (nice melodic semi-acoustic tune) and
Find What You Love and Let It Kill You (outro, nice calm tune). A great return
of a band I was not aware of before this new album, but it is clear that the
album presents high quality music which is recommended to check out if you’re
into bands like The Posies, Calexico, Wilco, Crowded House, Del Amitri,
Stereophonics, R.E.M. and that sort of melodic 1990s US College Pop/Rock. More
info at: www.hurricane1.co.uk
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
Katy Guillen & The Girls
'Katy Guillen & The Girls' (Independent/Hemifran)
Formed in Kansas City in 2012,
the band Katy Guillen and The Girls is formed around Katy Guillen (guitar,
vocals), Claire Adams (bass, vocals), and Stephanie Williams (drums). Together
they released their same titled debut in 2014 and on the album create a
fantastic groovy bluesy classic rock ish sound with lovely vocals by Katy.
Highlights are Woke Up In Spain, Quiver, If You Were Gone, which sound like
Blues Pills meets Heart meets Sass Jordan. Although it might not sound
original, the result is very impressive and these 3 girls surely know how to
rock. Influences come from mainly 70s classic rock, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix
and such, with Katy’s stunning vocals making it sound like a heavier version of
1970s Heart. It’s also bluesy at times, with a folk/rootsy rock influence also
to be heard here and there. At the moment, this female fronted classic
rocksound is very popular and we may easily conclude they are a highly
recommended band with a bright future. Check them out at: http://kgandthegirls.com
(Points: 8.7 out of 10)
Tyler Edwards 'Too young for love' (Independent/Hemifran)
Out of South Carolina comes
singer/songwriter Tyler Edwards, who has had success with his formed I Anthem,
but is now on his own with the release of the six song EP Too Young For Love.
This album is a great original singer/songwriter album that clearly showcases
his enormous talent. Although there’s so much competition in the
singer/songwriter scene, Tyler should be able to get noticed, due to his
fantastic vocals. It’s not an acoustic calm singer/songwriter record, but much
more diverse, with songs that take influences from southern rock, country, pop
and blues as well. Higlights are opener Headed for the Coast, southern rock
influenced Calling Me and the beautiful Sail on. It’s actually quite
radiofriendly and poppy, but then in a good way and not major label polished at
all. So make sure not to miss this talent at: http://www.tyleredwardsmusic.com
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
Robert Bushinsky 'Life in a
cold frame' (Independent/US Import)
Out of Boston comes Robert
Bushinsky, who is a singer/songwriter/pianoplayer releasing a dark pop/wave
album with this Life in a cold frame. Together with Masashi Nakamura: All
rhythm & lead guitars and Wayne Williams: 5-string bass and influences
coming from Depeche Mode, Gary Numan and The Fixx, the album has a definite
early 1980s synth/wave pop approach. It’s not a major label sound that we get
to hear, so don’t expect The Editors similarities, because it all sounds very
underground/independent ish and needs a few listens before it really grabs you.
You have to get used to Robert’s vocals, which are indeed similar to the
already mentioned Gary Numan and musically it also reminds me a bit of Gary
Wright. Most of the songs are uptempo, filled with big synths and dark vocals,
with as highlights So Cold in Saint-Apollinaire, The Year That Never Ends,
Reasons That Have Nothing to Do With You and A Mile in These Shoes. It’s best
to check out for yourself his music at: www.robertbushinsky.com
(Points: 6.9 out of 10)
Scott Kokoff 'Realizations and declarations Volume 2'
(Independent/Hemifran)
Now here we have a great singer/songwriter from the New York
area. He already released some material and his latest release is the EP Realizations
and declarations volume 2, a fantastic album that fits somewhere between AOR,
Pop/Rock, Westcoast and Singer/Songwriter, like a mix between Venice, James
Taylor, Tom Petty and Van Stephenson. Scott has got a beautiful crystal clear
voice that suits the music perfectly. The songs are mostly midtempo orientated
and especially the AORish Because of you is a fantastic tune that is
dangerously close to Van Stephenson, Bernie LaBarge, Michael Zee and the
legendary Edsdie Schwartz. Venice ish westcoast is present during opener The
right place, while we are in Singer/Songwriter acoustic pop heaven when
listening to the lovely Scared little boy. Pissed off in Paris is a slightly different
affair, an Americana shuffle tune that also reveals French chansson influences
somehow It's a pity only 7 tracks are included, because this is high quality
music you just got to hear! Hear for yourself at: http://www.scottkrokoff.com
(Points: 8.4 out of 10)
Doug Prescott Band 'Wasteland' (Independent/Hemifran)
This is a band with well seasoned musicians, whom probably
have experienced a lot in their music careers. They hail from Chapel Hill,
North Carolina and play a mix of Blues/Country/Cajun-Rock, a sort of barroom
shuffle boogie light rock sound in the style of John Cale and Little Feat. At
times it feels like you're in a Quentin Tarantino directed spaghetti western
movie or something when listening to a song like Trail of tears. Not bad at
all, something else for the occasion and recommended if you're into any of the
mentioned acts. More at: http://www.reverbnation.com/dougprescott
(Points: 7.7 out of 10)
Wendy Webb 'This is the moment' (Spooky Moon Records/Hemifran)
Florida based Singer/songwriter Wendy Webb delivers a lovely
4th album with This is the moment, which musically is very much in the classic
1970s singer/songwriter direction a la Carole King, Linda Rondstadt, Emmy Lou
Harris, Carly Simon, etc. Wendy has got this beautiful voice and songs that
take you back to the innocence of the 1970s when this kind of music was very
common on the radio. Nowadays that is almost unthinkable, although Norah Jones
is also a good comparison sometimes. Anyway, the album feels very natural from
start to finish, basically a high quality release that will please any fan of
the mentioned artists. Check it out for yourself at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/wendywebb5
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
Bartlett & Craft 'Brighter days'
(Independent/Canada Import)
Not so much info on this release, but Canadian
singer/songwriter/guitarist Rick Bartlett released a cassette tape all the way
back in 1993 and I remember reviewing a CD of him called Timeless a long time
ago. Anyway, it is now 2016 and Rick joined forces with vocalist/keyboardplayer
Colton Craft to release a new album titled Brighter days. He was able to get
Billy Sherwood (Yes, World Trade, etc.) on board for bass, drums and
production. The result is a strong high quality album, which sounds very
diverse and is a highly recommended album to the open-minded fans in both the
AOR and Progworld. It is a mix of calmer semi-prog/melodic pop/rock and singer
songwriter, with strong raw vocals and overall a relaxing sound. If we go
through the tracklisting, which presents us 10 tracks in total, we can find
some really great tunes, such as Is Love and Denise (both calmer tunes), Old
Story (sort of bar-room Americana pop/rock, a little Springsteen/Michael
Stanley ish, so even uptempo heartland pop/rock can be heard), Walk Alone
(great reggea-AOR tune), Brighter Days (semi prog aor a la John Wetton and Mark
Spiro), the Americana influenced We'll See, A Chance To Meet (uptempo
lightweight americana westcoast) and Who We Are (lovely semi ballad, AORIsh and
a beautiful closing of a rather great diverse album. There aren’t many weak
moments here, so if you are becoming interested, then go to: www.bartlettandcraft.com
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
Skeptical Minds 'Omega Thanatos' (FYB Records/Hard Life Promotion)
Skeptical Minds is a Belgian band formed back in 2002 and
Omega Thanatos is their 3rd album so far. They are a female fronted
gothic metal band, although they are also strongly infuenced by Industrial
sounds and especially the beginning is also showing a calmer side of the band.
The band’s line-up consists of Karolina Pacan (Vocals),
Patrice Brugneaux (Bass), Benjamin Lazzano (Drums) and Michel Stiakakis
(Guitars and Electro). As already mentioned first track Balcony Dreamsm is a
calm start, as this is a beautiful almost Clannad ish haunting
melodic tune, sounding very relaxing. However, not for long, because next track
Alone goes for a more alternative heavier direction. Fears does even sound like industrial sorta gothic and makes this
band completely different than most standard ff goth metal bands. The song
itself is a strong tune, with interesting melodies and some of the following
songs are even more experimental, such as The Sign. Although you have to get used to this band, they do have a
strong own identity and Karolina’s vocals are quite impressive. A surprisingly
well sounding Belgian album, so if you’re interested then go to: www.fybrecords.com or http://www.skepticalminds.com
(Points: 8.1 out of 10)
Jillian Speer 'Daggers and suede' (Speerit Records/Hemifran)
Although opener Fast car (the legendary Tracy Chapman tune)
is nicely covered by Mount Vernon, Washington based singer/songwriter Jillian
Speer, her debut album Daggers and suede is a very modern sounding album that
sounds quite urban I am afraid, which is a pity, because Jillian has a great
voice and can play the guitar quite easily. However, she went into the studio
with people like producer/engineer Keith “Qmillion” Lewis (Robert Glasper, Seun
Kuti), Chris Dave (Adele, D’Angelo), and Tim Stewart (Lady Gaga, Jesse J), whom
gave it a drumbeat robotic sound with only here and there the incredible
soulful vocal talent of Jillian. One of the least interesting tracks is the
Urban/Hip-Hop based Dum Dum Dai, while the absolute highlight is Fisherman, a
pretty good bluesy swamprock song with even a guitarsolo. Overall, Jillian
wants to take something of every genre, rock, blues, R&B, Hip-Hop/Urban and
pop/rock, but I would prefer her going into a soulful bluesy direction a la Vintage
Trouble, because she does have the voice for it. Now she reminds me slightly of
Neneh Cherry crossed with Tori Amos, which is also not bad at all, but I feel
she can do much better with a more rock orientated producer instead of the
beats we can now hear throughout the album. More info at: http://JillianSpeer.com
(Points: 7.5 out of 10)
Trombley Bay 'Demo CDR' (Independent/USA Import)
The band Trombley Bay are from a small town in Snellville, GA
and funnily enough they named their band after the street they live in, which
is Tromble Bay lane. 4 songs are on this demo CDR and it all sounds quite well.
The band is formed around Jared Munday - Guitar/Vocals, Joey McLane – Guitar,
Josh Moore – Bass, Joseph Giacopelli – Drums and Karl Fielden – Keys. Musically
alternative post-rock and bluesy groovy rock are mixed and this results in a
few great tunes. It starts with Man behind it all (a nice bluesy groovy
rocker), followed by Something new (post-grunge rocker, Pearl Jam ish), Ghost
(another groovy rocker) and closing track Sex and cigarettes (almost Bob Dylan
kinda folk, but then rockier). It is not of major level production wise,
because Trombley Bay has an independent sound, but we have some good
vocals/musicianship going on and who knows a future full-length album will show
us what they are able to do. Hear for yourself at: http://www.reverbnation.com/rpk/TrombleyBay
(Points: 7.9 out of 10)
Lotta Lene 'Smoke and mirrors' (Independent/Finland Import)
Out of Finland comes Lotta Lené, who recorded an album
together with guitarist/arranger/producer/all instruments musician Jake Mäkelä.
Her debut album Smoke and Mirrors was released in April 2015 and was mastered by
Steve Corrao at Sage Audio, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. The sound is actually
quite massive, musically typical classic 1980s AOR/Melodic Rock in the style of
legendary female fronted bands like Laos, Witness, Vixen, Saraya, Private Life,
Robin Beck and such. We had a similar release from Martina Edoff in 2015, so if
you like these acts, then this is definitely a must-have release! There’s some
really excellent guitarwork from Jake by the way and although vocally it is
quite nice as well, Lotta is not in the absolute top range of the legendary AOR
singers from Heart/Witness/Vixen and such, but all together the album itself
still does sound very sensational. 8 songs are included, opening with What I
want (a great early 90s melodic rocker, catchy and highly recommended to any ff
melodic rock/aor fan!), followed by Seven days (pure 80s Witness ish AOR
rocker, with a Mark Free/Venus and Mars/Heat (German band, very much)/Robin
Beck kinda vibe, a superb tune!) and 3 more lovely uptempo classic AOR rockers
that somehow sound like a mix between Dante Fox and Darby Mills (Stay, Skin and
Promises). The last tracks are a bit less sensational, but all together this
album is a total must for all fans of classic female fronted AOR/Melodic Rock.
The message is clear now I think! More at: http://www.lottalene.com
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
Desert Graves 'Desert graves' (Independent/USA Import)
2 songs are included on the single CD of the band Desert
Graves, a band from Boise, ID, USA, formed around Angela Heileson - Drums /
Percussion / Vocals, Gabe Rudow - Bass / Organ / Vocals and Chante Mestaz -
Guitar / Vocals. The music is post-punk with a psychedelic rock approach,
sounding like a real underground/garage rockband. First song Ghost chorus is a
pretty good garage rocker, with a slow tempo and a real underground dark sound,
like a mix between The Doors, Fleetwood Mac circa Tusk and Sonic Youth,
sounding very impressive actually. Sadly only 2 songs are included, with the
other song Desert graves being slow psychedelic noisy rock, a little less good
than the first track. A full-length could tell us much more for sure, because
this is really a band to watch out for in the future at: http://desertgraves.bandcamp.com
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
Black Snake Halo 'Various albums' (Independent)
Black Snake Halo is a band formed around Jan Buchholz
(Guitars, Drums, Keyboards & Production), a German born South African,
Larry Smith from Florida, USA on bass, guitar and keyboards, Doug Darrell from
Pensylvannia on Guitars, Keyboards, Bass, and Paul Rimmer (vocals, guitar) and
Rhod Williams (Guitars, Keyboards, Bass) from a small market town in the UK.
Together they created online albums, because except from Paul and Rhod, they
never met in person. I received 2 EP’s and a full-length album, which musically
is a mixture of 70s classic rock and 80s melodic rock/aor. The high pitched
vocals are not really powerful, while the production is also quite dry, but it
is an independent release, so we’re here to talk about the music. There’s some
nice material to be heard. On the full-length, we can mention the songs Running
Away (uptempo melodic heavy rocker), Lone Wolf (Rolling Stones/Quireboys
style), Hey! Hey! It's Friday! (catchy tune uptempo 80s melodic rocker,
Stranger style), Down On The Boulevard (pretty nice semi AOR ballad/midtempo,
with somehow better vocals), You're The One (nice AOR tune a la Passsion
Street) and Children Of The Snake (nice AOR as well). Although the Stones
influences can be heard a lot, a song like Lose Control is pure 80s hair metal.
Anyway, the EP contains 4 tracks and this has a better production and is more
AOR based, such as best can be heard during Space & Time and Hope (great
semi AOR ballad, best song by far, recommended to the die-hard AOR fans for
sure!). Finally there’s also a Christmas EP, so at the time of writing a nice
surprise! Check out this band at: http://blacksnakehalo.bandcamp.com/
(Points: 7.7 out of 10)
Echo Bloom 'Blue' (Butler Recordings/Hemifran)
The band Echo Bloom is formed around Kyle Evans, who is now
settled in Brooklyn after travelling via Washington DC, Los Angeles and San
Francisco to finally Berlin, where he spent a long time in search for the sound
of Echo Bloom. Kyle himself plays Guitars, Charango, Banjo, Mandolin,
Glockenspiel, Mellotron, Piano, Organ, Percussion, so you can call him a
multi-instrumentalist. He also sings with a tenor voice, while Aviva Jaye
assist him on piano and alto vocals. There’s a list of other backing vocalists
and musicians on this new album Blue, with Shareef Taher taking care of the
Drums and Josh Grove on Bass. Orchestral Folk is the description of Echo
Bloom’s music, which more or less is the truth and I hear some similarities to
John Grant here and there, especially during the songs The annunciation
(interesting acappella intro), Cedar beach (lovely acoustic piece, beautiful
melodies) and the titletrack. Most songs are quite calm, with the orchestral
background (use of violins), and definitely sounding quite impressive. It’s the
3rd album and although I haven’t heard the first 2 record, which
reveal more country and pop influences, this new album Blue is a clear Folk orientated
record. Check out more at: http://www.echobloom.com
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
Legs 'Altitud Vinyl release' (Independent/USA Import)
Now this is a surprise, because I received an interesting
vinyl record of the band Legs from Brooklyn, New York. Altitud is their debut
album, which was produced by Nick Stumpf (Caveman, Coke Weed) and tracked in
Quito, Ecuador. The included music sounds fresh, retro and modern at the same
time. Do not expect rock orientated material, because this here concerns 1980s
euro pop meets new wave meets new style ambient influenced indie pop. Think of
a mixture between The Editors/Hurts/Churches, some Arcade Fire and a lot of
Devo/Yazoo/Human League/OMD influences. We get to hear high pitched vocals most
of the time, a very light sound, so no big drums and mostly danceable synths.
The LP release contains 9 tracks, starting with Top of the World (typical
modern mix of light ambient/dance, Indie and New Romantic Wave, not the
strongest song), followed by Jungle(midtempo, incredible catchy tune, best song
by far, very 80s UK synthpop orientated a la Human League), Hide and Seek
(radioready modern day Indie Pop hit for the masses, 2nd best song), Running
(uptempo, slightly early 80s poppy new wave a la A Flock of Seagulls), Dream Technician (nice
synthpop), Synthia (more pomp/symphonic pop synths, pure early 80s and again
like Human League, catchy uptempo tune), East River Dance (calmer tune), Let Em
Go (funky, almost Prince style) and Whole Wide Woman (uptempo, Dance Synthpop,
weakest song here). Besides the mentioned bands, if you like acts such as St.
Vincent, Boards of Canada, Chic, Cameo, Talking Heads, Jamie Lidell, then you
also need to check out Legs asap at: http://www.feellegs.com
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
Mystery 'Delusion rain' (Unicorn Digital/Canada Import)
It is the year 2016 and we are delighted to inform you that
the new record Delusion rain of Mystery is one of the finest albums released in
the past few years, because basically everything sounds picture perfect here!
The CD was released in November 2015, so rest assured that this is going to be
on top of many year-end/best of 2015 album lists. It was a long way to the top
and there’s a lot of history before this album was released, because already 30
years ago the Canadian band Mystery was formed by multi-instrumentalist Michel
St-Père. It took some time to get a stable line-up, but by 1990, Mystery
consisted of Michel St-Père on guitars, Stéphane Perreault on drums, Raymond
Savoie on vocals and Benoît Dupuis on keyboards. One year later, in 1991, the
band began recording their first EP, which was released in 1992 and this rare
out-of-print EP also featured Richard Addison on bass and Gary Savoie,
Raymond's brother on shared lead vocals, so Mystery had 2 brothers as lead
singers back then. After a short break, the band’s 1990s decade years, right up
until the millenium break, this became the period where they started to get
more known, especially since they managed to release 3 full-length albums.
Around 1997/1998 I discovered the band and gave their albums a huge review and
even did an interview with them. By that time Gary had become their full-time
lead singer, but by 1999 he left and was replaced by Benoît David for the next
14 years. 2 more albums followed in the late 2000s/early 2010s, with Benoit
also being the lead singer for Yes between 2008 and 2012, which helped Mystery
to gain a lot of attention. Despite once again being the full-time singer for
Mystery after 2012, Benoit David took a break from the music industry and was
eventually replaced in early 2014 by a sensational singer called Jean Pageau.
Now less than 2 years later, Mystery releases it’s first album with Jean on
vocals and I can tell you that they hit the jackpot this time with an
incredible release, their best album ever! Delusion rain combines everything
you want to hear on an album and the 30 years of experience of this band has
now reached it’s absolute highlight. AOR, Progressive Rock and Popmusic are
blended together perfectly, so without a doubt, this is an album you need to
own if you call yourself a dedicated music fan. Jean’s vocals are just
incredible, reminding a lot Dennis DeYoung (ex-Styx), while the 6 included
songs are breathtaking melodic progressive rocktunes with the focus on strong
clean melodies, both vocally and instrumentally. Especially the first 2 songs
(Delusion rain and If you see her) and the almost 20
minutes counting epic The willow tree belong to the best songs I have heard
this decade, without a doubt easily reaching the high level of bands like
Spock’s Beard, Enchant, Kansas, Porcupine Tree, Rush and Styx. Picture perfect
music is the name of the game here! Put on the record and enjoy a journey
through the wonderful world of Mystery, because that is the only thing you want
to do over and over again after hearing Delusion rain for the first time. Not
many albums give you that feeling, especially new records fail to do that
completely, but Mystery’s new album is one that will be remembered in the
future, forever and ever, so thank you to Michel and company for delivering
this new classic! More at: www.therealmystery.com
(Points: 9.5 out of 10)
Happenstance 'Everything changes' (Independent/Canada Import)
We already reviewed 2 albums of the Canadian band
Happenstance in the past and now we welcome them back with the release of their
3rd record Everything changes. Musically speaking they are heading into a mix
of classic rock/aor and folkrock, somewhere a cross between Heart and Alanis
Morrisette, with a slight flair of classic country pop/rock (Juice Newton!). 11
songs are included on this new album and the female fronted band has delivered
their finest album so far. It's melodic, it rocks and still captures a sort of
traditional classic pop/rock sound that makes it accesible to a wide audience.
The songs are most of the time a mix between calmer semi-acoustic moments, which
sometimes stays in a smooth balladry direction (I'll see your face and
Sleepwalking), but especially during the beginning goes for an uptempo rocking
mood, with as highlights Everything changes, It's a brand new day and Not that
girl, while later on we get to hear a rather cool rockabilly uptempo piece
called Younger days, and the AOR tune Separate ways. Fans of female fronted
aor/poprock will definitely like this band a lot, so look up their strong new
album at: http://www.reverbnation.com/happenstancetrio
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
The Kenneth Brian Band 'Blackbird' (Shift Records/Teenage Head Music)
Blackbird is the debut album of The Kenneth Brian Band, a
band from Alabama formed around Kenneth Brian- lead guitar, vocals, Travis
Stephens- rhythm guitars, harmony vocals, Frank Rische- bass, harmony vocals
and Taylor Powell- drums. The album contains only 7 tracks, but sounds quite
sensational actually. It was produced by the legendary Johnny Sandlin (Allman
Bros. Band) and features guest performances by David Hood (Muscle Shoals Rhythm
Section, Aretha Franklin), Randall Bramblett (Traffic, Sea Level), Bonnie
Bramlett, Jason Isbell and more. It starts with the titletrack Blackbird, a
southern rocker with a groovy rocking guitar riff and a southern country
twangle, actually a strong biting tune with great typical southern american ish
vocals of the classic New Orleans bluesy kind, so very American sounding like a
cross between Lynyrd Skynyrd and Black Crowes, but then with an own identity
and it just feels so good! Basically songs like Shakedown and Ponderosa
Breakdown follow the same path, but the band also has a slow bluesy southern
rock ballad titled Goin' Down Hard, a great uptempo southern rocker titled
Vultures, a very nice semi ballad (Go West) and closing track The Pale Horse is
going for the acoustic direction. Remarkable is the fact that this EP features
the keyboard wizardry of the late Ikey Owens as guest musician, who was a
member of The Mars Volta and The Jack White band, but sadly passed away in
October of 2014. Anyway, Country, classic American R&B, Blues and Southern
Rock are melted nicely together in this traditional southern US sounding
record, which might be the first steps for this band to stardom, who know… More
at: www.kennethbrian.com
(Points: 8.4 out of 10)
Time Horizon 'Transitions' (Melodic Revolution Records/USA Import)
Exactly 4 years after I reviewed the album Living water (http://www.angelfire.com/ma/strutteraor/HOTNEWREVIEWS179.htm),
the Californian Christian Symphonic AOR/Pomprockband Time Horizon returns with
a follow-up titled Transitions. Without a doubt, this is a fantastic band, whom
I already praised back then when they were still independent, which meanwhile
has changed now, since they have released the new album on Melodic Revolution
Records. The band consists of Ralph Otteson / Keyboards, vocals, Allen White /
Electric and upright basses and Dave Miller / Lead, rhythm and acoustic
guitars, with a list of guest musicians, including David Wallimann / Lead,
rhythm and acoustic guitars, Billy Sherwood (ex-YES) / Lead Guitar, Jake
Livgren / Vocals (Kerry Livgren’s nephew!) and several others. The album has a
huge sound, mixed by Billy Sherwood and musically it is a a combination of GTR,
Asia, Starcastle and several other bands, very much mixing sympho/pomp of the
1970s with 80s aor/melodic rock and a touch of progressive rock. There are
different vocalists to be heard during the CD, all sounding pretty good, with
as best singers Bruce Gaetke (who happens to play drums as well) and a guy
called Jake Livgren, a sensational singer who sounds like a cross between John
Elefante and Ted Leonard of Enchant. Sadly he only sings on 1 song and when you
check the internet, the only other song you can hear him sing is Dust in the
wind, which he does extremely well. As already mentioned, he is the nephew of
Kerry, so one wonders why the two don’t record something together and deliver a
real new classic 70s Kansas style record. Anyway, back to Time Horizon, the new
album starts with Only One, a song with fantastic vocals and basically this is
classic 80s pure Sympho-AOR the way we want to hear it, including those dut-dut
keys, big synths, catchy hooks, melodic vocals/guitar, great chorus, a Pomping
sound and a lovely guitarsolo, very much like the very 1st Asia/GTR and a
little Fortune, quite a sensational tune!!!!! 1982/1983 American style music
and also Sweet Comfort Band and Allies also come to mind here!. The album
continues with Only Through Faith and Only Today, which are nice
semi-instrumental prog/pomp pieces, while Prisoner is a semi prog tune and with
The Moment is Here the band is back to sympho-AOR again, sounding like Yes
meets Starcastle, including those 1970s ish harmonyvocals and a chorus that
breathes Pomp/AOR, somehow not unlike Kayak, so definitely a great song! The 2nd
part of the album features About Time (instrumental rocking piece), You're All
I Need (nice simpler uptempo AOR), River of Sorrows (great semi ballad, prog
ish, with vocals a la Gino Vanelli and the song itself reminding a bit of
Saga), Water Girl (nice instrumental prog a la Spock's Beard) and closing track
Love is Here. This final track is truly wonderful and features the
aforementioned Jake Livrgen on vocals. This is a beautiful Kansas style
prog/symphonic semi ballad that gets rockier halfway, just pure 1970s Kansas,
with superb vocalwork by Jake, sounding dangerously close to 70s Steve Walsh
and also reminding me of Sweet Comfort Band very much, so without a doubt a
fantastic ending of the record in traditional late 1970s American style. Love
is here is a classic tune with also lovely guitarwork and once again, that
incredible voice making you wish that Jake would record a full-CD soon! Anyway,
this album is definitely something you need to check out if you’re a fan of
classic 70s/80s symphonic pomprock a la Asia, Kansas, GTR, Kayak, Starcastle,
Sweet Comfort Band and such, so jump to the following sites for all the info on
the Time Horizon record at: https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/timehorizon1
and http://www.timehorizonmusic.com/
(Points: 8.5 out of 10)
Eileen Carey 'Let it go' (RolleyCstrMusic/USA Import)
Out of Altadena, California, USA comes singer/songwriter
Eileen Carey, who releases her debut CD with Let it go. The album is a typical
American country-poprock crossover album that touches the classic traditional
country and typical catchy radio-ready US Poprock, reminding a lot of classic
Juice Newton, Ellen Shipley and early Shania Twain. She is clearly also into
80s female fronted poprock, because 3 80s classics are covered on the album
(Don't get me wrong - The Pretenders, Only the lonely - The Motels and Walking
on sunshine - Katrina and The Waves), all done in a new country sorta direction
and sounding pretty good, especially Only the lonely, which is almost a pure
AOR tune a la Pat Benatar. Most of the songs are uptempo pieces and without a
doubt the strongest original tune is the catchy Let it go. Although some might
find it sound lightweight, the result is quite good and recommended if you want
to hear fun poprock to sing-a-long to. The country twangle is almost put to the
back during some tunes, so don't expect a country affair here, because as
already mentioned, it is basically typical classic female fronted poprock like
only the Americans can make 'em, with a strong 80s approach, but I guess you
already understood that! Check it out for yourself at: http://www.eileencarey.com
(Points: 7.8 out of 10)
Corvus 'Chasing miracles' (Lynchburg Music Group)
And here we have a classic 80s UK AOR sounding band,
reminding a lot of all those legendary underground bands that didn't become as
known as FM became in the AOR scene. Corvus are a band from the UK whom deliver
a great debut album titled Chasing miracles that can easily be mentioned next
to bands like Moritz, The Promise, Peroux, Lost Weekend, Monroe, Shogun, United
Nations, Tobruk, etc. etc. The insiders then exactly know what to expect here,
which is melodic catchy hookladen AOR, sounding quite big in the production
field and making you sing all night to those memorable summerfriendly choruses,
with classic guitar riffs, fluffy wimpy keys and melodic soaring guitar solos
added to make it all sound rocking. It might not sound really original,
especially when mentioning the songtitles, but somehow Corvus are doing it at a
high level and that makes them a recommended band to the AOR fans. The band
itself is formed around ex-Serpentine guitarist John Clews, vocalist Ciaran
James, keyboardplayer Nick Jeavons, bassist Jordan Brown and on drums we can
find Hanging Doll's Alex Cooper. Most of the 13 songs are uptempo pieces, with
as highlights Can't get enough, Chasing miracles (Peroux meets Lost Weekend!)
and the superb instrumental Retribution. However, when the tempo slows down we
get to hear a terrific semi-ballad titled Turn to stone, which is the absolute
highlight here, although they did listen to Bon Jovi's Wanted dead or alive
here a lot during the intro. Also the semi-AOR ballad Truth or lies needs to be
mentioned, because this is another awesome tune that will wet the appetite of
any AOR fan! So concluded, despite nothing new on the horizon musically
speaking and two songs that could have been dropped (Can't stop falling and
Where do we run), it doesn't matter, because Corvus does it at a high level and
fans of any of the mentioned bands will absolutely fall in love instantly with
this AOR/Melodic Rockband! Check them out asap if you start to become
interested, then jump over to: http://www.corvusuniverse.com/
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
Magnets and Ghosts 'Be born' (Independent/USA Import)
Magnets and Ghosts is a band from Los Angeles, formed around Dean
Roland (from Collective Soul) and Ryan Potesta. The duo first met during the
creation of Collective Soul's 2007 album Afterwords and when that legendary
band went on hiatus in 2010, they decided to form their own band, Magnets and
Ghosts. In 2011 they released their debut Mass, which is now followed up by the
EP Be born, a 7 tracks counting massive major label ish sounding album that
starts with a nice calm instrumental titled Intro. The band gets on the way
with a typical British sounding modern dreamy pop/rock anthem that falls in the
category of Radiohead, Coldplay, Elbow and a little bit Pink Floyd, a sure
radiohit here for sure. The band switches then completely from style, because
following track Drug money is a fantastic uptempo raunchy raw garage punk
rocker that is close to The Arctic Monkeys and The Strypes. Back to calmer
radio pop territory again with another Coldplay sounding tune titled Here to
save me, which has a chorus that will probably go down live at stage during a
major festival, as it does have a typical anthem moment in the woa-woa sing-a-long part of the chorus. I Ain’t the
Devil is then another 360 degrees turn to an almost midtempo industrial
rocksound that also reminds one of early 1990s U2. Final 2 tracks are Ascension
(one of the strongest songs on the album, because this is a rather great
midtempo melodic rocker, with a catchy chorus, superb vocalwork and nice
guitarsolo) and the titletrack Be born (the weakest song, sounding a lot like
Coldplay...). Without a doubt, a surprisingly great band that sounds very
diverse and they could have easily been a British band, but are definitely
based in the City of Angels. Check them out for yourself at: http://magnetsandghosts.com
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
Tigernite 'Tigernite' (Independent/USA Import)
Out of Milwaukee, USA comes a sensational new band called
Tigernite. This female fronted band has delivered a dynamic strong melodic
rock/powerpopalbum. Their sound is not far removed from bands like The Donnas,
Halestorm, Damone, The Runaways, Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Elle Bandita, The
Riplets and such, but then with an own identity. Most of the 8 songs included
on the band's same titled debut CD are uptempo tunes that combine
party/glamrock choruses of the 80s with the rawness and straight-ahead no-nonsense
approach of the late 70s punkrock, while a dash of powerpop can be found as
well and most importantly, the lead vocalwork is quite phenomenal. The band's
line-up consists of Molly Roberts: vocals, Maxwell Emmet: guitar, Eric Arsnow:
bass and Alex Becker: drums. Their first album comes in a DVD package (please
note that this is the special edition I received), with a nice booklet that
contains a bunch of sci-fi cartoon drawings, so a lot of effort has been done
to make it all look flashy and musically speaking it is a very strong record,
because Tigernite's debut record is definitely one of the finest female fronted
albums of 2015! It seems like the band is still only known in their hometown
area, but I feel bigger things will follow after listening to this superb
record. The first 2 tracks (Million years and Wasteland) are The Donnas/Damone
ish uptempo melodic heavy rockers with catchy choruses, while the uptempo
Empire is almost close to powerpop perfection of the early 1980s, even
reminding a lot of classic Toronto! Drag is the first less rocking tune, going
for a slightly more modern new wave ish powerpop direction, but still an
awesome tune, reminding me of a cross between Metric, The Models and Divinyls.
Witch is the rockiest tune on the album, a party rocking punk anthem. Next
track Tarantula is the least interesting song on the album, because this song's
chorus lacks a bit, although it ain't a bad tune at all, just not as good as
the first 4-5 tracks. No girls allowed goes for a more classic 80s powerful
melodic rock direction and has again similarities to Toronto, but also a lot of
the classic early 80s Pat Benatar sound can be heard during the catchy chorus
and the song has a nice guitarsolo! Closing track is Dreamsnake, another
uptempo rocking tune you can't stop singing along to! If you're looking for a
new sensational female fronted rockband, then look no further than Tigernite,
whom sound like the perfect cross between The Donnas, Pat Benatar and Toronto.
Check them out a.s.a.p. at: http://www.tigernite.com
(Points: 8.8 out of 10)
Valley Shine 'Loca' (LaFamos/Atomic Music Group/USA Import)
Based in Los Angeles, the band Valley Shine is formed around
main members Jenna Blake and Sam Sobelman, whom recruited several other
musicians to record the debut album titled Loca. The EP contains 5 catchy tunes
that might not sound original at all, as this is typical modern day melodic
indie folk-poprock which was brought to the masses in revent years by bands
like Mumford And Sons and Fleet Foxes, but nevertheless songs like Sugar dream
and Don't let it slip away are great catchy tunes that just make you feel very
good when listening to them. There's a nice variation in lead vocals during the
songs due to the shared vocals, but I personally prefer Jenna's voice. During
the choruses they sing the harmonies together, which sounds rather nice. There
are also strong similarities to Fleetwood Mac, especially during the closing
track To the sea. For more info go to: www.valleyshineband.com
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
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