ION INDIE MAGAZINE August 2014, Volume 3 | Page 38

By JP Rawk
SAINTS OF REBELLION, a Hard Rock quartet out of Forest Hills, MD, a Baltimore suburb, is comprised
of vocalist COBY DESHAZO, guitarist JOHN ADAMS, bassist JOHN HITAFFER and drummer RYCHE
GREEN.
While many of you may not remember the Philadelphia based band TANGIER, from the late 80’s and early
1990’s, they had a singer by the name of BILL MATTSON, who had a powerful, bluesy voice. I will make
the comparison of Coby DeShazo to Mattson, which is a huge compliment, in my opinion. That is not to
say this CD is dated back 25 years ago, quite the contrary--in fact. The variances throughout their recent
release, “New American Dream”, however, are more than the aforementioned band provided.
“New American Dream”, the title track, starts us out in a true Rock ‘n’ Roll anthem style. It is a fastpaced tune with blazing guitar, a tight rhythm section and powerful vocals leading the push. “New
American Dream” seemed only a warm-up to “Gasoline”, which had me sitting and banging my head-drawing me in from the first note. Once again, particularly during the solo, the drums and guitar are
overpowering, ready to steamroll anything else you’ve had in your ears to that given day. For ballad
lovers, “Alone” is a very bluesy, vocally-emotional song, backed by music that makes you feel the
essence, the vibe, the raw feeling of the song. “Garden”, does not take us back to the fist-pumping,
head-banging pace, produced in either of the first two tracks, but rather gives us a good solid Rock song
that has a really great beat and is something I believe would get airplay consideration in top 40 radio.
“Get You Some”, is a tale of a woman who seems bent on destruction of her male counterpart (there’s
the line “She’s out for blood, come and get you some”). ”Wine, Women & Song”, gives us that awesome
bass leading the way; with great walks prevalent, the drums and bass are as one, the vocals and guitar
selling us on another bluesy tune. “Wine, Women & Song” is definitely a keeper. “Matters”, keeps us
on track, but kicks back to more of a Pop style Hard Rock. “Rise”, with its initial catchy guitar tracking,
leads us down a path of just an all-out great Rock song with a message of not being held down. “30 and
a 5th” takes me back to the days of a misspent youth--30 pack of beer and a 5th. This is the party track
on the CD, but it should not be thought of as weak, as the guitar blazes through, particularly through the