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Non-Prog CD Reviews

The Complaints

Sunday Morning Radio

Review by Gary Hill

There’s really sort of a Tom Petty vibe to a lot of the music here. Elvis Costello is another frequent musical reference. This disc earns parental advisories here are there. I’ve seen these guys listed as punk rock. Frankly, I love old school punk, but I wouldn’t consider this to be punk. It might have some punk influences at points, but overall this is just great rock music. This is the kind of album that should appeal to a wide cross section of music fans, really.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2013  Volume 2 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review
Man Downtown

Percussion starts this and acoustic guitar climbs up from there. The opening verse is in this melodic, balladic style. They power it up to a more rocking sound from there, though. This is quite accessible and catchy with a real Americana vibe to it.

Three

A little more raw, this is another straight-ahead. There are some punk rock elements in the mix, but overall this is just plain rock music. It’s not as catchy as the opener, though.

New Face

More along the lines of the second cut, this one is a lot catchier. In fact, I think of the opening three I like this best. It’s still just good rock and roll, but there’s nothing wrong with that.

Prince of Providence

An acoustic based number, this is cool. While it’s a good bit of variety, and is reasonably catchy, it seems a little too long for the lack of variety within. 

Girl Next Door
Now, this is more like it. There’s a killer funky retro groove to this thing. This has some great shifts and changes, a catchy vocal hook and a meaty guitar solo.
Thirty Years

The driving riff that carries this is a bit like the sounds Led Zeppelin and other 1970s band created. There’s a bit of a punk edge to this, though.

Wrapped in Silk

The bass really drives this thing. It’s got almost a jazz groove to it and it just oozes charm. The instrumental section on this is particularly tasty. Also, the closing movement, where it really powers up, is killer.

Lonely Sunday Drive

Here’s a straight-ahead pop rocker. It’s catchy and still has plenty off oomph to it.

The Fall

Moving between mellower motifs and more hard rocking ones, this is a cool tune. It’s modern in sound, but still feels very much like classic rock. At times this really reminds me of some of the acoustic based rock from Led Zeppelin.

Plastic Heart

This isn’t all that different from a lot of the other music here, feeling pretty classic in nature, but it’s still a good tune.

The Silence

Basically a power ballad, this one is very much in keeping with a classic rock vibe. It’s another solid number. In fact, it stands as one of the better pieces here.

Peculiar Way

This hard rocker is more like something from Elvis Costello in a lot of ways.

Sunday Girl

Here’s a killer funky piece of music. This is a great way to close things in style.

 

 
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