“ Nowhere Fast” doesn’ t let us down, as the music stays upbeat, fast-paced, with a great guitar riff and drum lead-in that demonstrates what much of today’ s music seems to have left behind. The guitar work continues as a strong suit for the album, as it ripped right through on its way to my thoughts of,“ What can be better to listen to for a fan of just straight up rock music?”
“ Everglades” changes up the pace, tempo and style. It is a bluesy, southern rock style track, reminding me of several bluesbased bands of yesterday, i. e. TANGIER and SWEET F. A. Yet I find the vocals in“ Everglades” to be vocally stronger than Sweet F. A.--and perhaps a smoother listen than the vocals BILL MATTSON provided us on Tangier’ s recordings. Being a fan of this specific type of rock, I find“ Everglades” to be a very easy listen that I could hit the repeat button on let it play on and on.
“ Lost” is another bluesy track. I find the musicianship, the bass walks, guitar work, and drums a continuation, yet separation, from“ Everglades”--which is a contradictory statement … until you listen to and feel the music in your own ears.
“ Love is Crazy” … what else can you say?“ Love is Crazy” is a power ballad, leading us a third direction in five songs--that is refreshing. The one thing I have failed to mention is how crisp and clear the vocals are and have been. The backup vocals are spot on, and you can actually understand every word being sung on the album.
“ No More” picks up the pace, although not feverishly. My feeling 6 tracks into the album, is that there was a tremendous amount of effort put into every detail in the recording of this album. It appears that there were no corners cut in the recording and production of“ Karma”.
“ Hold On” is another song that I could hit the repeat button--and just let it play over and over. We all have certain songs that hit us, depending on our moods.“ Hold On”, for me, is one of those songs that hit me perfectly in my current mood.
“ Livin’ It Up” steps up the pace. There is a little funk guitar going on that exemplifies the diversity and well thought-out plan on the album. You don’ t get lulled to sleep by getting locked into the same monotonous song, 9 times over.
“ Karma” wraps up with a strong ending.“ Forgive To Be Free” returns to the faster pace, yet backs it down into a bluesy guitar solo … then kicks back into a fast-paced solo that somehow is all pulled together … a fitting ending that attests to the aforementioned“ not getting lulled to sleep” by the same old, same old, song after song.
While you may not be able to get your hands on New Machine’ s album“ Karma” yet( it is slated for a release date of March 17, 2017), you can preorder it through iTunes NOW. It will be worth the money! Pick it up!
You can look for a feature article on New Machine in a future edition of ION Indie Magazine.
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