Slow Season
self-released download
American four piece blues-rock outfit Slow Season see no reason to not wear their influences on their sleeve and hell they do make it easy to just say "Led Zeppelin knock off" and be done with it but there’s a lot more happening than just Jimmy and Robert here. Of course opening with the blatant Zep-styled 'Heavy' doesn'’t help the lazy critic but following up with the late 60s country rock stylings of 'Ernest Becker’s 32nd Schizophrenic Nightmare' is a nice turn of events. 'Dayglo Sunrise' follows and with more than a hint of an adolescent Jim Morrison in singer Daniel Rice’s voice and the band sounding more like obscure but legendary 60s acid-blues band Jamul than Led Zeppelin - this is the highlight of the album for me.
American four piece blues-rock outfit Slow Season see no reason to not wear their influences on their sleeve and hell they do make it easy to just say "Led Zeppelin knock off" and be done with it but there’s a lot more happening than just Jimmy and Robert here. Of course opening with the blatant Zep-styled 'Heavy' doesn'’t help the lazy critic but following up with the late 60s country rock stylings of 'Ernest Becker’s 32nd Schizophrenic Nightmare' is a nice turn of events. 'Dayglo Sunrise' follows and with more than a hint of an adolescent Jim Morrison in singer Daniel Rice’s voice and the band sounding more like obscure but legendary 60s acid-blues band Jamul than Led Zeppelin - this is the highlight of the album for me.
It does dip a little with the instrumental 'Thunder Song' offering very little and then 'Deep Forest' starting as a meandering jam before the band suddenly wakes up and Rice wails away with a quick Plant impersonation. Luckily they soon get back on track with the slow burning 'No More Running', the mandolin-led 'Ruah' (which comes across like a pretty sweet outtake from Houses Of The Holy), and later Jim’'s ghost reappears for 'Bars And Bridges' to finish the album off in style.
So what we have is a band of young guys with some great taste in music, not afraid to show their influences, not bothering to justify themselves with any need to drag the music into the new millennium, occasionally failing but still hitting the mark more often than not and having a damn good time doing it. For a debut effort that’s pretty damn good odds. If you like it heavy, if you yearn for more of those late 60s acid rock/blues daze well here'’s an album just for you. Oh and did I mention it’s a free download?
Kami McInnes
Kami McInnes
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