Friday, April 29, 2011

The Dave Goddess Group: A 'Classic' Rock Act!


Classic rock is a dying genre in today’s music scenario. Bands playing alternative rock / metal , grunge and hard rock are present by more than a dozen everywhere . Be it radio , television or the internet …they’re everywhere .

So what does a classic rock fan listen nowadays ? Well , they either wander off to new genres or their music collection stops expanding , their music players stuck in a loop. Listening to records of Bruce Springsteen , Led Zeppelin , Thin Lizzy , Pink Floyd , Deep Purple, The Doors and many others.

Well, thankfully, the Dave Goddess Group brings life back to a dying genre with their album ‘Something New’! The Dave Goddess Group is a four piece act consisting of Dave Goddess on the vocals as well as the guitar . Tom Brobst is a multi – instrumentalist who plays the keyboard , saxophone , trumpet and the flute with equal finesse . The Bazylek brothers , Mark and Tom , take care of the rhythm section pretty damn good . Mark’s excellent bass playing is evident throughout the album and Tom’s tight drumming forms the backbone of the band , who shifts between high energy songs like ‘Something New’ and ballads like ‘The First Lie’ with ease .

The album begins with the title track ‘Something New’ which has a nice classic rock riff to begin the album with . The vocals are good and though Dave doesn’t have much variety in his vocal range , he manages to pull it off very well with his smart lyrics . Next up is a track named ‘Call Of The Wild’ . Guitar work is exemplary throughout the album and this song is a perfect example of that . Wah – wah guitar effects are thrown in along with guitar solos , which makes the listening experience so good. This song would sound great as a soundtrack of an Animal Planet documentary .

‘Sweet Miss Understanding’ : A single sentence conveying multiple meanings. This track is a typical classic rock song with keyboards forming the background rhythm section and a small guitar solo in the middle. Catchy rhythm section coupled with saxophone , trumpets and keyboards dominate the song. I knew I was gonna love this one just from the intro itself !

‘Lucky Guy’ stands out in the album due to the presence of a mid – section where only the drums and bass are present and a saxophone solo joins them . A groovy bassline dominates the song. Addition of trumpets is a pleasant surprise in 'It's about love'.

As the album progresses , it progresses towards the softer side of the musical spectrum . ‘The First Lie’ is a track on the mellower side of things . Violins and flutes also make their presence felt . The guitar solo is wonderful as well !

A single album featuring a variety of instruments alongside a traditional rock and roll setup is indeed so refreshing, and infact, so rare! ‘Love Over Blue’ is a perfect example of combining various instruments & still be able to retain the rock feel . Dave Goddess is a complete package of good vocals and guitar riffs. This is time and again evident in the album . ‘Better Man’ is a ballad about being sorry & promising to be a better man after a horrible mistake has been committed . The song ends with an amazing guitar solo .

The lyrics of ‘Cant Fight Sitting Down’ are aggressive , unlike all the other songs present in the album . The album finally ends with a song named ‘I Can Dream’ which is a nice track to finish the album .

Well, the members have perfect coordination throughout, and each of them is awesome on their respective instruments. Though, due to so many tracks in the album, I expected it to be less on variety, but I got just the opposite! Each song had 'something new' in it, and I was hooked on to it right till the end !

All in all , this album is your quintessential classic rock record . Though the album gets a little repetitive at times , in terms of structure and music , it is a statement that screams ‘classic rock is not dead’ . As long as bands like Dave Goddess Group are existing , classic rock is far from being dead . Go get it folks, Its indeed "Something New" !

Check out this video of rocker Dave Goddess talking briefly about the fight for relevance and the longing to create Something New.

Friday, April 1, 2011

From Rock n Roll, to Hope & Ruin !


For those of you wondering what this is all about, It's The Trews' fourth full-length studio album: Hope & Ruin, due out on The Trews Records on April 12 ! It is much of a level-raising evolution for the Toronto-based rock band with two gold records, 10 top-10 singles and 800-plus concerts logged.

Just to get a feel of what the album would be like, Check out their self-titled single :



Loaded with a super cool riff, awesome vocals, and a perfect head banging rhythm, I couldn't keep myself from watching the video again and again, humming all along! Recorded live-off-the-floor, they captured lightning in a bottle, resulting in a sound that is raw, electric and igniting.

The Trews, owing to their original sound and amazing musicality, seem to be, arguably one of the BEST rock artists of the current era.

Check out their official website : THE TREWS