Ben Cutler – Break the Ice
Similar artists: Blackberry Smoke, The Black Keys, The Rolling Stones
Genre: Classic Rock, Garage Rock, Alternative Rock
“There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” That’s a phrase that undoubtedly has rung out of the office of producers and music managers for decades now. And while those are not the people most concerned with rock n’ roll innovation, they might be true about one thing. The classic formats can still be made to sound bright and fresh. Just take a listen to Ben Cutler, for example.
The fact is that classic blues-based rock has never been older than it is now. And it shows, especially when newer bands do their very best to present themselves as a carbon copy of the past. Still, that doesn’t mean that all great blues-rock songs have yet been written or that every new band is cynical about their mission.
Ben Cutler’s “Break the Ice” is pleasant, poppy blues-rock meant to fit in with the radio programming demands in 2023 or back in the 1960s. It is constructed with the chorus in mind and with melodies that can be easily remembered from the very first time that you hear the song. There’s a blues-rock revival going at the moment, and Ben Cutler is fighting for the right cause.
Cuvier – Gold Standard
Similar artists: Muse, Nirvana, Paramore, Green Day, The Offspring
Genre: Punk, Alternative Rock
It’s hard to learn to like the kinds of people who brag about how much money they make or about how big their house is. Similarly, it’s hard to fall in love with the music of a band or artist that insists on showing you just how many notes they can play or how high they can sing. Cuvier knows this and disguises his considerable ability in punk-rock mischief.
This is a strategy that is finding fewer and fewer practitioners. We’ve returned to the era of rock music as entertainment rather than art. Emotion is usually sacrificed for artifice. Any trick that can be used to strain the attention of the audience one minute longer is fair game. Soon, we’ll have modern Gene Simmons characters spitting out fire.
Cuvier’s “Gold Standard” sounds like Radiohead trying to annoy an audience comprised of library personnel by playing a loud, quirky punk song. But it’s all under control. Cuvier can sing like Jeff Buckley but would rather you not focus on this, and can write songs as immediate as Nirvana, but would prefer you don’t make this your sole concern.
