Eve To Adam Scores Another Hit With Its Fourth Full Length Record

The fourth full length release from New York’s own Eve To Adam is everything of which purist rock and roll fans dream.  The almost dozen songs written for this record will keep listeners’ horns in the air from start to finish.  The band grabs its listeners right from the album’s opener, ‘Locked & Loaded’ and only lets go once through the entire course of the album.  Considering that this is the band’s fourth album, it’s a surprise that mainstream radio hasn’t picked up on this band, with its mix of catchy hooks and equally infectious choruses.  Maybe this album will finally be the one to prove to programmers what they have been missing all along.

The album’s opener and title track is a solid first impression on this new record.  It’s one of those defiant anthems that is certain to be just as much of a hit both on record and in a live setting.  Front man Taki Sassaris sings to listeners, “Show respect/Looks like you’ve forgotten/Just who I am/Turn the cheek/That’s for someone else/No, not on my time.”  The song’s raw musical energy elevates this line, as well as the song’s equally infectious chorus in which the band sings, “Locked and loaded/I don’t apologize/And I can keep it goin’ all night/All night/You’re outgunned baby/You should have realized/You brought a knife to a gunfight/Gunfight.”  That pure vibe of “you can’t mess with me” exuded here is certain to make this song a fan favorite.  That’s because of its ability to reach so many listeners.  Who out there has not tried to step up to another person in one form or another and try to cause problems?  Thanks to the society in which we live, retribution for such behavior is considered a crime.  Luckily, this song serves as a way to release the angry energy built up by those people without being arrested.  So kudos are in order to the men of Eve to Adam for that.

The energy established in the band’s opener doesn’t let up once that song is over.  It pulls back only slightly at best as the band launches into the album’s second song, ‘Immortal.’  It’s one more that flips the proverbial middle finger at all of the naysayers that would try to kick a person when he or she is down.  This is evident as Sassaris sings, “I’m never gonna need your sympathy/Cause you’ll never have a chance to miss me/You can try to shake me/I don’t care/I’m permanently everywhere/They never misspell my name/How about yours/Cause things I’ve done/are what they’re living for.”  This can apply in the music industry.  It can also apply in everyday life.  There are those that will do whatever it takes to hold down others in either setting.  It reaches so many different audiences of all ages.  That ability to reach such a wide audience group makes it another song sure to be a fan favorite.  And in turn, it makes this album that much more of a must hear for any fan of pure guitar driven rock and roll.

Eve to Adam offers plenty of thundering music and infectious choruses throughout the course of its new album.  Surprisingly, there is actually one moment when the band pulls back on this record.  That point comes in the album’s penultimate song, ‘Shut Out The World.’  The subtle guitars set against the song’s lyrics here make for an interesting juxtaposition to one another.  It would have been so easy for this song to be just as high energy as the album’s other tracks, despite its lyrics.  But the band collectively agreed to make this song more emotional, opting for a softer sound as Sassaris sings “Lock me in this place forever/Throw away the key/Cause all that matters/Is you and me/Lock me in this place forever/It’s where I wanna be/Cause all that matters/Is you and me.”  The band was able to take a breakup song in ‘With The Truth’ and make it a high energy piece.  So the natural question here is why make this song so much more subdued?  The answer might lay in one of the song’s later verses in which Sassaris sings, “Inside this room/You’re safe from all/The pressures you’ve been fighting off/I’ll lift the weight/I’ll light the dark/I’ll let you be just who you are/So open up/And let me see/What you’ve been hiding underneath/You can’t deny/You can’t escape/A bond that holds and never breaks/So lay here with me/And shut out the world/Shut out the world.”  This is more of a tender sentiment.  The subject in question is singing to someone to whom he or she feels that emotionally connected.  It’s clearer through this moment why the band opted t go softer on this song.  And considering that the energy built through the album picks right back up on the album’s closer, it makes for one more interesting addition to the overall presentation.  That addition and the album’s more high energy songs collectively make this record one more that any purist rock and roll fan will want to check out.  Locked & Loaded is available now in stores and online.  Fans can also pick it up at the band’s live shows as it tours in support of the album.  The band has a handful of performances in North Carolina during its touring schedule.  The first of those dates is a performance at Greensboro’s “Chili  & Wing Fling” presented by 100.3 The Buzz.  That performance is in two weeks on Saturday, November 16^th.  The band returns to North Carolina two days later on Monday, November 18^th at Fayetteville’s Drunk  Horse Pub.  And that date is followed two days later on Wednesday, November 20^th at Jacksonville’s famed Hooligans night club.  Fans in other states can get a full list of the band’s current tour dates and all the latest news from the band online at http://www.facebook.com/evetoadam and http://www.evetoadam.com.  To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment reviews and news, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment reviews and news in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

Tantric Proves It Still Has Plenty Of Life On New Album

Courtesy: Pavement Music

Louisville, Kentucky based rock band Tantric has seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows throughout its life. The band, which rose from the remnants of Days of the New, has seen its records go platinum. It has toured and played to thousands. It has also seen band members leave and label changes. At one point, it seemed like the members of Tantric were ready to call it quits because of everything that it had endured. But this Summer, the band showed that it hasn’t gone anywhere with the release of its fifth full length record. 37 Channels was released this year via indie record label Pavement Entertainment.  It’s an interesting return for the band.  That’s first and foremost because of its sequencing.  There is an obvious split as the album progresses between a harder mainstream rock sound and a softer side.  Audiences will also take note on this album its general lyrical themes.  The themes of the songs on this record range from the standard fodder of relationship issues to fighting inner and external struggles.  Both of these factors together make 37 Channels one more album that the band’s longtime fans will appreciate, and may even bring back fans that had forgotten about the band.

The very first thing that listeners will notice about 37 Channels is a blatant separation between harder edged and softer style songs over the course of the album’s thirteen songs.  The album’s first four songs could easily be used for any mainstream rock radio station.  The first of those songs, ‘Again’ is a solid re-introduction for the band.  After those first four songs, the band starts to slowly pull back as the album progresses.  The album’s remaining nine songs are just as interesting a mix as the album’s first four tracks.  That’s because while they may not have the same intensity as those songs, some of those other tracks have an intensity all their own.  That is evidenced through songs such as ‘Loss For Words’, ‘Rise’, and the piano driven ballad, ‘Fault.’  These are interesting examples because they do such an impressive job of presenting how songs can be intense thanks to the contradiction of their musical and lyrical content.

The distinct separation of musical styles on this record makes it an interesting listen for certain.  The music alone doesn’t make the record, though.  The lyrics play their own role, too.  Case in point: the album’s opener, ‘Again.’  Musically speaking, one wouldn’t recognize it.  But this is one of the album’s song rooted in the standard theme of personal relationships.  That’s because of the song’s heaviness. Front man Hugo Ferreira sings in this song, “In the end I despise everything/I realize/Never ever had to compromise/The shifty eyes/I see in you/Again/I should have known better/Than to let you in again/again/AGAIN!!!”  A lesser songwriter would have taken such lyrics and potentially written another typical tearjerker.  That wasn’t the case for Ferreira.  He instead opted instead for something with more of a sense of determination.  That is noted as he sings, “I’ve shown you all I can/It’s time for you/To want to understand.”  The energy of the song’s music set alongside these words again makes this song just one of so many examples of what makes this album stand out.

Another example of how the combination of music and lyrics drives 37 Channels comes late in the album in the form of the piano-driven ballad ‘Fault.’  The gentility of the song will make fans of the band’s counterparts in Nickelback, Saliva, and other similar bands smile.  It’s another song that lyrically is based in personal relationships.  But Ferreira’s voice exhibits such pain when he sings, “I just want you/Like you were before” will pull at the heartstrings of even the strongest listener.  It’s one more song that will help keep listeners engaged right to the album’s closer not just once but many more times after that.

Tantric’s fans still have plenty of chances to hear music from the band’s album in person as it tours in support of 37 Channels this Fall.  One of its dates will be in North Carolina on Saturday, November 16^th.  The band will perform that afternoon at the Greensboro Chili Wing Fling 2013 presented by 100.3 The Buzz.  Pop Evil will join Tantric at the show.  More information on the band’s new album, Fall tour dates and more is available online at http://www.facebook.com/Tantric and http://www.tantricrockband.com.  To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment reviews and news, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment reviews and news in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.