Cliff Root – Holy Visions
You don’t need the misery, but it certainly helps. And, if your quest is to become a great artist, finding something to fight against is almost guaranteed to be a requirement. Kids imagining themselves playing big stages and having something important to say to the people clapping their hands should remember this. A peaceful, easy existence, if one can swing that, might be the way to go.
Boxers get to fight someone of nearly equal value in search of the title. The greatest footballers and basketball players have to find ways to dribble past excellent opponents. But artists are usually alone in the room. And because of that, they need lto earn to shadow box. The bigger the shadows, as Cliff Root has found out, the greater the results.
Cliff Root sings of troubles past that nearly made the music he’s making impossible. He sings like a man who was allowed to glance at the end and come back from it. But “Holy Visions” also sounds like a rock song searching for something while knowing with certainty that the mystery is out there waiting to be revealed. It’s rock music of a spiritual nature, albeit not one that has anything in common with traditional places of worship. Root has fought for his life and keeps on bringing the same fight to his music.
Drew Manchego Band – Get Control
Why is it that computers utterly lack humour? No, I’m not talking about ChatGPT being able to deliver a knock-knock joke. What I mean is, why can’t these chatbots, using all the fancy scripts of their programmers, surprise you with a zinger or a story that goes straight to your soul? Why are they unable to connect with humans in the same way that we’ve learned to do with each other?
Perhaps it’s because they also don’t risk getting hurt. Destruction, as far as we can tell, is not something that worries a computer out of a good night’s sleep. Those things, however, leave an imprint on the lives of regular people. They leave a mark on the voice of great singers. And, in this day and age, it’s well worth considering the human frailty that makes us not just unique, but great.
Drew Manchego Band’s “Get Control” is a song that should immediately get the attention of fans of grunge, alternative and classic rock. Much of the song’s greatness is captured in that controlled rasp of a voice. Ask most listeners and they’ll recognise that in a human being’s ability to live with discomfort. Ask the same person after multiple listens, and they’ll recognise a lot of themselves in this music. Yes, it’s the best time to give time to the things that have helped us survive this world and maintain our sanity.
