Classic rock does not get much of a look in on these pages but that does not mean
Desert Psychlist is not a fan of the genre, we were brought up on bands like
Bad Company,
Wishbone Ash and the like and we still look for elements of the genre in the heavier music we listen to now. The reason we mention this today is because we have had the privilege of recently listening to an album, released this month, that is hard not to compare with those albums of yesteryear albeit flecked with elements drawn from more modern sources. The album goes by the title "
Flight Out Of The Hollow" and the band go by the name
The Uneven.
Opening number "
Punching Bag" begins with a piano flourish then erupts into a chugging circular
hard rock groove spliced with all the things we love about good
rock music like scorching guitar solo's, driving rhythms and strong powerful vocals that perfectly balance world weariness with blue eyed soulfulness, fans who own albums by bands like
Rival Sons,
Cry of Love and
Burning Tree will lap this up. "
Temp Of You" follows a nicely paced
bluesy romp with a stuttering dynamic and a vocal that edges towards an impassioned scream in its final moments, it is followed by "
Loud" a song that is as not as loud as its title suggests but is nevertheless hugely impactful. "
Don't Blame Me" is one of those torch-like songs that feels like a ballad but carries to much oomph to truly be classed as one whereas "
The Mask" is true balladry but delivered with a little touch of lounge lizard
jazziness and
bluesy off-centeredness. It is back to the
rock'n'roll for "
No Violations", a loud/quiet/loud
blues groover with some nice slide guitar textures and a tendency to get a little "
southern" in places. "
Red Door" is a
slow blues, enhanced by a an emotion drenched soulful vocal, that deserves a longer duration than it gets which and is followed by "
My Time" a mood lifting
southern flavoured romp with a bottle of
Jack Daniels sitting in its back pocket. It's a return to the
slow blues for "
Found Out" but this time with bigger peaks and lower troughs, a real emotional rollercoaster. Final number "
Lines In The Sand" is a mid-tempo
blues rocker that also incorporates into its grooves elements of the bands more restrained and laid back attack, a perfect end to what is a near as damn perfect debut.
The Uneven hail from
Nashville,
Tennessee a place where it would be hard to throw a stone and
NOT hit a musician and the musicianship to be found on "
Flight Out Of The Hollow" is of an extremely high level. It has to be said though that the line-up who made this album are not the same line-up currently treading the boards today, a lot of time and heartbreak went into the making of this debut release and with a pandemic also factored in things did not go as smoothly as expected. Despite these setbacks
The Uneven have made an album worthy of both the words "
classic" and "
rock".
Check 'em out ....
© 2023 Frazer Jones
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