now i’ve been listening to and following the answer for over 10 years. in fact, when i was doing “icepicks” for an FM station outside of los angeles, I even had them play nowhere freeway as my pick of the week. wow, circa 2011. ever since that day, the band has maintained the excellence i initially heard that day.
songs like spectacular, evil man, always (why hasn’t this song gotten more attention?) gone too long, thief of light and so much more simply show that this band has always produced from day 1. now, im not picking the songs with the most plays on spotify, im picking the ones that really just “spoke” to me.
yo, iceberg; check this shit out.
the band faded for a bit. well, if a bit can be somewhere between 6 and 7 years without new music. all i can tell you is they were missed. when i saw new music coming, there was a christmas sort of anticipation in my mind. blood brother came out and while it got my attention, i knew there would be more.
so i waited. soon enough the entire release was dropped and i had 11 more songs to check out. did 6 years change the band? change me? lord knows the world has changed quite a bit in this 6 year timeframe.
it’s easy for me to say there are no bad songs from this band. now this doesn’t mean i love them all the same; no. i have my favorites; many listed above. but my favorites seem to be something a bit different than the rest of the music on any given release.
what makes this band work so well for me is their consistency. if you like 3-4 of random songs, you’ll love the band. while each song can stand on its own, they most certainly have their own style.
cormac neeson, the singer, drives things with his raw folk-blues style vocals but the entire band simply “fits”. the songs, the style, transitions, lyrics – everything simply works to produce a classic rock style the world so needs today. last year on facebook, someone had a post that said “name a band that has no weak songs”
heh “the answer” honestly came to mind. now i was digging through my music and decided i would listen to them a lot during that time. but hey, there’s a reason for that. you go back to the music that moves you.
says “yo, check this out”.
from what i remember, mr neeson even replied with “damn straight” or something to that effect.
heh, cool.
now i’ve made it through much of sundowners and have found what i expected to find. as usual, i also tend to gravitate to the least played songs and this isn’t changing. no salvation got my attention. i suppose slowing down a bit and simply living the moment speaks to me.
little did i know the best was yet to come.
in fact, let me just get to it. while i did put several songs into our rotation, as usual, 1 song in particular i can’t stop listening to. in fact, its the last song on sundowners.
always alright.
there’s something about this song that made it a personal classic from the very first note. the opening lyrics about losing yourself in the wilderness i believe hits us all. especially these days.
of course the slower pace always appeals to me. but there has to be more, ya know? to truly be a personal classic, you have to do more. change it up as you’re telling the story in your song. all good stories in life hit you with something you were not not expecting. at that point they take you to another place and 180 you.
just over half way through always alright the answer does this. my god, they do the shit out of it. the tone changes, someone sets the bass player free and the song goes to another level.
it became that classic to me i was looking for. hoping for.
and in the end, knew i’d get.
guys, please don’t make me wait another 7 years. and if you get a chance, please come to the states. seeing you live would be an amazing experience.
everyone else, check ’em out.
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