The Midnight Callers “Rattled Humming Heart”
The Midnight Callers are back, and after a fantastic debut, their sound overall honors the classic ’70s influences (The Raspberries, and early Cheap Trick) with a touch of Glam (Sweet, T-Rex) here, so there is no “sophomore slump.” Lots of short crunchy guitar gems, the production and musicianship here are near perfect. Opening with “New York Tramp” it buzzes through the verses and the lead even sounds a little like Robin Zander in the chorus. “Step!” and “Closer” picks up the tempo, and are great catchy tunes that really stick. The Callers have an innate sense of rock, and “Girl On The Run” from its jangling melody to the harmonies is very much like a lost Tom Petty hit. In the dramatic “Without Ya” those harmonies come to the foreground at the start and then the song morphs into a brilliant rocker, it’s my favorite tune here. Other highlights include “Little Runaround” and the love ballad “Maggie.” No filler here, but a few tunes are missing the hooks they need. However the batting average is very high for this album, so don’t miss it. Highly Recommended for sure.
Mason Lowe “Morning People”
Seattle-based drummer Mason Lowe (Bread & Butter) opted to record an album in his basement to burn off the stress of work during a global pandemic. It boasts a nice fuzzy bedroom pop opener “Plastered” with a catchy chorus/verse combo, and it gets better from there. “Whiplash” is a bright swaggering grunge-pop tune that follows the same template.
The songs take influences from the past (The Creation, The Jam, The Sorrows) and re-configure them into original rockers, the one critique is the tempo and approach for each song don’t vary much, and it causes most songs to blend into each other. But some of the melodies stick nicely like “Stoned and Cold” and “You Took A Chance On Me”
Other tunes like “What Took You So Long” and “You’ve Got The Touch” develops nice vibes, but it could’ve used a tempo change at some point. Despite all this Lowe has lots of potential here, so check this album out.
