A new album release from Nowhere Fast brings out a brilliant and lush approach to blending rock genres with songs that feel anthemic, emotionally driven, and in certain ways, very vast in their undertone.
The Modern Archaic is built with progressive and expansive guitar work that adds a lot of that open spaciousness to the songs but also builds in the thriving and open-ended energy that the band displays.
The record wastes no time with the first track, "Chemicals & Colours".
This is a damn near perfect first song to open the record with simply because it starts to give you a good feel for what you can expect on the rest of it.
The track gives you that boisterous and anthemic approach I mentioned earlier right from the get-go and does so by way of layering vocals and bringing in elements of a sort of pop punk feel as well.
There's a great approach to how they layer their songs and vocally the whole album is buoyant and vivacious because the vocal approach has a sort of youthful cry out to them and it brings out that emotional backbone and let you know that a lot of these songs if not all of them, came from someplace authentic.
Other tracks like " Burning Midnight Oil" give off a more contemporary undertone and approach, which also works very well for these guys because it leaves a little bit more room for some lead guitar work and showcases how they're able to pull off that smoother approach as well and make it work perfectly.
They also give some great Southern undertones on certain tracks. The closing track on the record, called "Buffalo", feels pretty spacious but also adds a little bit of that southern tonality along with organs that fill the space and breed an almost classic rock influence in the background.
Throughout this record, you can hear all these amazing influences strewn through the songs, and it lets you understand where these guys came from.
No two songs are alike. However, there is a glue that holds it all together. It is confluent in its own right, and this is one of the few albums I can certainly suggest listening to in full.
As I mentioned earlier, listening to one or two tracks will give you an idea of what you might expect but won't give you the full spectrum of what the album has to offer as a whole.
Again, there are loads of layers, textures, and emotionally built tracks here, and to soak that all in properly, listening to it all the way through is 100% the way to go.
I also love the fact that their energy levels are really on point. It fluctuates throughout the record along with its intensities, but listening to the record lets you know that they're going to be an awesome live band, and that's a rarity.
I love listening to a track on a record and just knowing that this band is going to be the kind of show I want to see personally.
Certain aspects of the songs even feel like they may have recorded them live on the floor. Of course, I wasn't there, so I can't be sure about that, but, again, listening to the record makes you want to go see them live because that electric kind of energy is almost always there.
There are elements of punk, classic rock, alternative rock, indie rock, pop, and so much more throughout this album, and as it unfolds, you become connected to some of the songs.
After a while, it starts to feel almost like this is a concept album of sorts, and the songs have ways of interconnecting with each other.
Either way, listening to the whole album is the way to go here because there's a lot to offer, and I also suggest maybe even doing so with headphones on so you can soak everything in properly.
There are loads of those layers and certain elements that float through the ethers of some of the songs that you might miss if you don't do it with headphones.
This was a great record that spans nine tracks and serves as a great escape for anyone who loves boisterous rock music with widened and almost freeing progressions that feel spacious and massive.
When these guys want more sonic drive, they do it. When they want to give you a track that is a little more calm and subtle, they'll do it.
You'll find some great approaches throughout the record, but again, it's very confluent and connective throughout its course.
Take a deep dive into this one as soon as you can and see how it affects you.
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