Track: A.D.
Artist: Alex Bracy
Genre/s: Rock/Hard Rock/Metal/ Thrash Metal/ Neo-Grunge
Today’s Track of the day is ‘A.D.’ by US Solo artist/singer-songwriter/ guitarist, Alex Bracy. Alex fuses various styles of Rock Music and different guitar techniques to create his own unique sound. He is a very community orientated musician who encourages other bands and artists to help promote each other. Alex is always on the look out for new music to listen to within the general ‘Rock’ umbrella, so if you click his name tag (If you’re reading this on Facebook) you’ll get through to his Facebook page. (Alex Bracy Music) Ok, on with the review!
A.D.: This song doesn’t hang about, there’s a short single guitar intro, followed by the full clout of the band. To start with, there is feeling slightly reminiscent of bands associated with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. There’s certainly an Iron-Maiden style gallop, but also there’s a slightly tighter, more compressed sound, perhaps even evocative of the Pop Punk bands of the late 90s and early 00s. The vocals fire in very rapidly; this tune’s strength being it’s openness to change and it’s welcome inability to stay still. Cleaner Wah-Wah sounds hint at a Thrashier, Metallica-inspired Sound, perhaps combined with a early 90s Seattle Grunge lilt. The rhythm guitar is chunky but not overtly-noisy. The vocals are precise, melodic and almost percussive in their annunciation and delivery. Alex uses his voice more as an instrument and it’s clear that he has a symbiosis with his guitar. What I mean by that is that here is a guitarist who’s voice and guitar influence and intwine into one another. It’s in the same way that during a ancient Black Sabbath interview, I seem to recall Tony Iommi talking about how if you sing and play guitar, the one will influence the other. That perhaps explains why some lead guitarists make fantastic backing singers. For example, John Frusciante’s backing singers work with (the) Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
Back to A.D. though, there’s plenty of room for instrumentation within the tune, with little music breaks, but rather than fill those with showy or unnecessary guitar licks, the playing feels natural and considered. The vocal and melody lines have a poppy quality and if I had to pick a sub-genre of rock that would help to describe their cadence, I would say, Grunge. Not so much the Punk-Inspired snarls of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, or the playful Psychedelic-Blues roar of Mudhoney’s Mark Arm, but more the soulful holler of Chris Cornell from Soundgarden and the introspective yarl of Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder. The song evolves, before returning to the structure and parts the listener is familiar with. This weaves a consistency into the tune and is cemented with relentlessness and frenetic musicianship. Then a solo erupts, it has tiny spacings, which create a form of ‘question and answer’ style solo. It’s a wah-guitar pedal solo, which both doesn’t overplay or outstay it’s welcome. The vocal hooks fire in to wrap up this anthemic rock banger.
Special mention also goes to the music video of A.D. The visuals really suit the energy of the song, in both the way they are snappily edited and how the images themselves, action clips of Skateboarders whizz by. What’s nice is that skaters have always been associated with different aspects and sub-genres of Rock and Alternative Music, be it Skate-Punk, Pop-Punk, Grebo or Thrash Metal. What it reminded me of was the skating in the music video of ‘100%’ a song by US Alternative Rock band, Sonic Youth. In that video a young Jason Lee in his pre-acting days, when he was a pro-boarder, wows with his skating prowess. For me the video for ‘A.D.’ has that similar dynamic action.
Click on the 1st link to listen to ‘A.D.’ by Alex Bracy on Spotify.
Click on the second link to watch the accompanying music video.
As always, if you haven’t heard this tune before, I hope you enjoy it. 😀
Listen to ‘A.D.’ by Alex Bracy on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6cJ3IeZL0bWryHWCRRxYy7?si=s6qcYxRjQW2jxI-4vV7QSg
Watch the music video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_oXOx_EBSt0
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