On their 2021 LP ‘Let There Be Light’, alternative rock band Sun Atoms shared some great music. That record’s quieter and more downbeat moments blended elements of goth pop with a very retro guitar twang, often falling somewhere between the classic, introspective songwriting of Leonard Cohen and the more contemporary moods of Tindersticks. When approaching busier sounds, the material mixed light electronica with spoken word passages. With other moments utilizing muted trumpets and very retro sounding backing vocals, the album was a pleasingly varied listening experience.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
PAT!i – Sahara شع ةينامثو ةئام
The multi-faceted PAT!i is a mystery. The faceless musician, said to have worked within various genres ranging from hardcore to hip hop, brings a variety of sounds to ‘Sahara شع ةينامثو ةئام’. Although not a true smorgasbord of his talents, the music he presents on the album is never dull. It takes in various different influences, always suggesting the work of a man who isn’t short of ideas.
HONEYMOON SUITE – Alive
The first three Honeymoon Suite albums are an essential part of any decent melodic rock/AOR album collection. Songs like ‘New Girl Now’, ‘Feel It Again’, ‘Bad Attitude’ and ‘Lookin’ Out For Number One’ should have made them as big as Journey and Survivor, but outside of the US and Canada, the band never achieved any more than cult status. Any relative lack of success elsewhere wasn’t for the want of trying, however. Millions of people have actually heard Honeymoon Suite without realising it, since their ‘Lethal Weapon’ appeared on the soundtrack of the film of the same name in 1987. Unfortunately, the end credits failed to mention this…robbing the band of some very easy publicity.
MAGEN TRACY AND THE MISSED CONNECTIONS – At My Age EP
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n terms of unexpectedly mixed moods, the opening of the title track from Magen Tracy’s ‘At My Age’ digital EP really makes an impression. The intro shares a bright sounding guitar riff, cast from some classic rock pop sounds, which almost immediately brings an expectation of a similarly perky vocal. Instead, the listener is greeted with a much deeper tone, and an almost dour melody where Tracy appears to be channelling Marianne Faithfull circa 1979.
UPON STONE – Dead Mother Moon
San Fernando’s Upon Stone broke onto the metal scene in 2021 with a well crafted EP, ‘Sky, Sword and Specter’. Its four tracks blended old school death metal with a pinch of hardcore, and when slowing down, the best material wasn’t shy in sharing a few (very welcome) trad metal traits. Assuming you could make it past a rather abrasive vocal, the music pulled from various sources to create an extreme metal release that actually felt really well balanced.