The new album, Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll, from California musician Carol Blaze, sets out to ‘bring back’ those elements of a cultural reference that dates back at least 40 years now, at a time when rock and roll ruled the music world.
“I am disciple of decadence. I happen to believe that most of our problems in the world could be remedied by these three things,” Blaze says.
“I’m annoyed and dismayed at the lack of sex, drugs, and rock and roll in many places of the current USA. It reflects my disdain for an America lacking art or culture and my disdain for the lack of SDRnR in today’s youth.”
The opening title track struts and sways with a more modern mix of edgy rock and darkwave. Therefore, the album title may seem a little misleading to those expecting a classic rock sound.
Aside from that, Blaze and his band chug along intently through the track laying down a hard-edge vibe. It’s a stellar rock track that can grow on you.
Switching it up and keeping it real are important considerations that Blaze seems to understand in a musically savvy sense.
On his Bandcamp page, he describes his music as “darkwave, psychedelic rock created within a world of cyberspace, analog performance, and dark imagination.”
Indeed darkwave blended with rock would be a good descriptor. (Haven’t heard the word ‘cyberspace’ since the early 2000s. For those not sure what that means – it’s an older word for the Internet, just like another beauty, ‘information superhighway’ . )
The second track on the album, “Trouble,” starts with a beeping, electro psych-pop sound before launching into a full-blown track with blazing guitars, dance-oriented percussions, creepy vocals, and synth sound effects.
It’s no wonder the band made this track their lead single from the album. The single smokes and should be playing on popular playlists and has become one of our top under-the-radar rock singles of 2019.
That’s our humble opinion, and of course we are basing that on only the tracks we’ve heard in 2019, which must be somewhere approaching 2,000 songs by now.
Other tracks like the late 70s arena rocker, “Fall Away” and “Come With Me,” are fine songs as well. The latter song has a creepy, sinister vibe which is just right for this Halloween season.
The lyrics are particularly dark: “Come with me/and if you dare/I welcome you to my nightmare/you must decide before the killing time.”
Then there is the surprising, and seemingly out of place, track “Passing Time” sounds like an 1980’s-leaning love song perfect for parking the car at the overlook on a warm summer night.
“Passing Time” might remind some of the stellar 1980’s band Big Star. It does have that vibe that is the ‘Alex Chilton’ sound. It’s encouraging that there are young musicians who are still making original pop-rock songs of this quality while also giving a nod to the trailblazers of yesteryear.
The album closes with the gloomy anthem-like “Takako.” This song is cinematic in a sense: one may imagine hearing it on the play on a soundtrack for a movie or show like Game of Thrones; meanwhile, the camera pans over a large field blotted out by a sea of warriors ready for battle. This is the level that Blaze’s music is at.
Therefore, it is no big surprise that Blaze’s music has appeared on soundtracks for shows such as Disappeared; Deals from the Darkside; True Life; Pros vs Joes; Remodeled, and Last Call with Carson Daly, among others.
As stated previously, the album title is not a match for the music itself because one is expecting a collection of ordinary classic rock songs. And yet there is nothing ordinary about this album. It’s a must-hear if you dig rock, psych and darkwave mixed together in varying hues.
Blaze recently moved to California’s famous (or infamous) Silicon Valley to be “one step closer to being out of the country” but found, to his surprise, a lack of “art music or culture, except as it pertains to rich people.”
“I was surprised at the number of people surrounding me who were lacking any knowledge of sex, drugs, or rock and roll in the artistic sense. What an absolute fucking bore it is.”
“I was dismayed at the lack of musician infrastructure here, and the lack of interest in music. Quite different from my home of Pittsburgh.”
“My music is out of fashion, but its honest and the only thing I can do.” We’re not so sure we’d agree, per this review, that his music is ‘out of fashion.’
Perhaps Silicon Valley – not exactly known for its past as a haven for rock music and counter-culture, especially compared to the greater San Francisco Bay Area that surrounds it – is the problem and not Blaze.
Blaze, whose real name is A.T. Vish, was the drummer for the popular 80’s Pittsburgh dream-pop band, Lowsunday and for the psychedelic band Thickhead Grin.
Following those experiences, Vish set out on the solo path to create music “filtered through my own sensibilities and limitations.”
