Music Review // Paul Lewis & Romeo Rage "Sky's Rust" (Realize Records)

https://open.spotify.com/album/3jdUvdSwTK5BgVElELSPK3?si=enH1hhKoT-Wz9p7CEw08hg&nd=1

"Sky's Rust" is fueled by both big guitars and big voices.   It falls somewhere between the present and the past in terms of its sound, which also just makes it feel more relatable because it could take you back to your bedroom in the 1990's just as easily as something that happened today.   Elements of The Hold Steady can be heard and with triumphant horns I am thinking about Blue October on "Send Letters".

"Black" is distorted and a little bit trippy as we go into "Ghost Town" in a more serious voice, which reminds me of Finger Eleven.   Big beats and distortion come out in "Slip Away" as this becomes more electronic and intense.  "Little Bit of Rain" feels more blues driven and "The Shift" slows down as the ballad.   This album ends with a cover of "In The Pines", which really goes back such a long way but most people might know it from Nirvana.

There has always existed this certain genre of music which isn't really what the mainstream sounds like at the time but is a sort of cleaner version of it.  When music started getting really heavy, distorted and screamy during grunge there were still bands out there trying to make music along those lines but a little bit more like the song "Anything, Anything", which seems to be how I always tend to relate with music such as this.

The way that this album can go to something so electronic as well really makes it take that trip from Sebadoh to Folk Implosion, but also it just feels like Paul Lewis and Romeo Rage are forging through rock music and creating their own style.  This album definitely has a bit of variety and variety is the spice of life so listen to this and let's get spicy.