Radio Cries
Headroom
Label: Headroom Live Entertainment, LLC
Reviewed: March, 2012
To all but the hard core music lover, the Phoenix area isn’t immediately thought of as a hot bed for developing musicians. However, one only needs to hear names of artists like Alice Cooper, Gin Blossoms, and The Tubes to have that notion corrected. In more recent times, Chester Bennington (Linkin Park) and Jordon Sparks are folks who point to the Phoenix area as being an integral part of their musical background.
Another name that is beginning to gain regional notoriety that is sure to ripple out to the rest of these glorious United States is the band named the 2008 National Band of the Year by the Los Angeles Music Awards and multiple year/multiple category winner of various Phoenix Music Awards: Headroom.
A quirky (and I mean that in the most positive, complimentary way) band, they have taken the musical influences of all the band members, added their own creativity to the amalgam, creating a signature Headroom sound. This is all evidenced in their new CD, Radio Cries.
As might be expected from a band that has been heavily influenced by multiple decades and genres of music, Radio Cries will tease the listener with hints and teases of all sorts of sounds from the past but yet something totally new. The result is a CD that is a lot of fun to listen to while making the listener a devout Headroom fan.
Boomerocity favorites from Radio Cries? I’m so glad that you asked!
Welcome to Turtlewoods: This tune is the perfect blend of 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s hard rock. One can easily be flashed back to the Fillmore (East or West, it doesn’t matter. It’s your flashback, after all) or to any number of festivals from those decades. ‘Cept, the thing is, it’s a whole new tune from this era. Amazing!
Already Over: An intricate, tight, fast rocker, I suspect that this tune is a definite crowd pleaser who, if they’re not already on their feet, grabs them by the through and puts them on their feet until the band is through with them. Great guitar work by Travis Bolt and Dan Buitron. Love this tune!
Another sure crowd pleaser (and Boomerocity favorite) is Rocky Mountain Pony Ride in the Sky (The Ballad of Johnny Blaze). The complex rhythms driven by the great drum and bass work of Gavin Washburn and Derek Axman, respectively, this tune will command your attention from the first downbeat to the last sliding guitar note. I would’ve loved to have listened in on the jam session that produced this song.
Though only three songs are singled out here, the whole album is great. If you’re looking for some new, bold, fresh rock, and want to be the first kid on your block to turn the rest of the kids on to it, then Headroom’s Radio Cries is the album to help you do exactly that. You can check out more about the band at www.headroomlive.com .
Written by Randy Patterson
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