After a wild debut EP last year, The Chris Alvy Band is back with a more realized full length album. Joined by Fernando Perdomo (who also produced and engineered) it re-does a few of the previous EP tracks and adds several more. Not an easy band to categorize, they have a loose guitar rock style with snappy melodies (sort of like an updated version of The Spin Doctors) but they also have a touch of Badfinger in there too.
The band opens up with the title track, a party styled anthem that reminds me of those 90’s comedy movie soundtracks. “Can’t Get You Off My Mind” has some great harmonies in the chorus, and Alvy’s strong power chords take over from there. A funky beat starts off “This Summer’s Day” and the middle eight takes the band to the next level, here the guitar solo is just as impressive. Then we get “Something’s Missing,” it’s a wonderful mid-tempo ballad which reminds me of Pete Ham’s “It Had To Be.” The band certainly knows how to write a sticky chorus, both “Inside Job,” and “The Fall” qualify with swirling hard guitar leads and solid hooks. It takes a delicate balance of guitar theatrics and solid melodic composition to make it all work right. The band does a great job till the last few tracks, where they kind of channel Extreme and the harmonies fade away. Overall, a really excellent album that will appeal to many fans of hard driving melodic rock.
