I often tell how Texas is an inexhaustible reservoir of quality independent music.
A mystical place where music is breathed in the air and is part of the life of its inhabitants.
Here, the practical demonstration of all this is, in my small obviously, in the numbers: of the last 5 my reviews, ben 4 are of Texan artists.
The roots are important and therefore every self-respecting artist or band of this immense state, has in its influences the country and the red dirt, even if then the music that produces deviates a lot from this musical genre.
Maybe, like the great Cody Jinks, he goes through trash metal or punk, and then comes back and becomes a reference for the Texas country genre (and not only).
Or there are artists who put in their blender all their influences, but also the youthful loves made of punk rock and heavy metal and bring out an explosive and original mix that immediately reaps many victims.
Well, the Texan band Treaty Oak Revival is a perfect example of a highly successful mix, original, fresh and damn well played.
The group consists of Sam Canty (vocals and acoustic guitar), Jeremiah Vanley, (lead guitar), Lance Vanley (rhythm guitar), Andrew Carey (bass) and Cody Holloway (drums).
They came from West Texas and after their debut in 2021 with No Vacancy, they had seen their fan base increase dramatically, not only in Texas.
Obviously when you get to stir interest in the independent circuit and start with the proverbial bang, then the demand for new music at the height of the debut becomes almost pressing.
The wait has not been long, despite the many live shows around the States, TOR managed to return to the studio and, as for the previous one, write and produce their new album Have a Nice Day, released for Thanksgiving Day this 2023 so productive for American independent music.
The groove traced by the previous record, is skillfully taken up even in the 10 pieces of this new album and the music that explodes in your speakers is the same: red dirt, rock and a splash of southern and many guitars, with a wink even to punk, Juvenile love never dies.
It begins with the riff enveloping and charged with electricity of Stop & Stare, a love song that the voice of Canty makes exciting, indeed we can say that the record is a love song divided into 10 parts: from love with dreams for the future, to the end that breaks the heart.
The guitars strike the air also in the subsequent In Between, which takes the red dirt influences bringing them almost on the shores of a hard rock 90s.
Wrong Place Wrong Time is guitars and groove, with the voices of Canty and Vanley intertwining, as well as guitar riffs.
There really was a need for a young band to bring the Texan sound back to the shores of red dirt, as Cody Canada did at the time with the magical Cross Canadian Ragweed.
The title track has a tight rhythm that results in an airy and electric bridge.
The work of the guitars is masterful and the groove that is created will not easily give up the stereo of American rock lovers, the one that does not take prisoners neither in the studio nor live, where certainly will set the stages on fire.
Fishnets is one in which punk rock influences are more felt and where guitars embroider an electric riff that is interwoven with more melodic passages.
Guitars, guitars, guitars and a lot of rhythm also in See You in Court, a groove with many Southern influences, not only in the singer’s accent, but also in the sound and the enveloping emotion of a great piece.
The album closes with a ballad with a bitter rock flavor, Chasing My Tail, which shows us both the vocal ability of Sam Canty, but also the two guitars that intertwine in the chorus that releases a bit of electricity that seems trapped by emotions.
A second album really convincing for a very young band, but that in just two records has already created a nice fan base around him and that, live, will be a real explosion of electric and exciting rock.
If you love rock, but that does not disdain the melody and emotions, Treaty Oak Revival are really the band for you and with this Have a Nice Day give us 10 songs of a freshness and a truly remarkable sound, increasing the feeling that this 2023 was really one of the most prolific and quality years of American independent music: there was bread for the teeth of lovers of country, folk, red dirt and southern rock.
Long live American independent music!
Good listening,
Claudio “Trex” Trezzani by http://www.ticinonotizie.it
(in Ticino Notizie web site you can find original italian version of this article)
