When you consider that to the casual listener 80’s style hard rock (however you want to categorize that) was largely born here in the states it’s a bit sad that it’s become kind of a lost art here. There aren’t a lot of great new bands in the genre here these days, A point Crazy Lixx wrote an entire song about.
Dazr is from South Carolina and going off of what Spotify has listed this self titled ep came out just last month and it is surprising levels of good. No, Scratch that..Great!
“Unsatisfied” kicks things off beginning with a 70’s rock riff forming the Skelton of the song but is given some meat with a heavier modern edge. The rhythm section is tight and really drives this song, the guitars groove and wail, and the vocals hit the mark staying in a lower register in the verses but really hitting those highs at the chorus with the right amount of punch.
“Night Lady” follows things up nicely, Beginning with a mellow 80’s melody before kicking you right in the teeth, This song falls somewhere musically between Guns N’ Roses and Skid Row. As great as the first track was this definitely exceeds it, The incendiary guitar solo provided by guitarist Grant is a stand out in an absolutely kick ass track.
One of the biggest staples of 80’s style hard rock that helped propel it to heights not seen since the early 90’s thanks to MTV was the power ballad, Something that for all the great bands as there are carrying the torch out there for this style of rock music is still very much lacking. This is THE song that instantly sold me on this band and “Can’t Take It Anymore” is the real deal, This is vintage late 80’s/ early 90’s power ballad wizardry.
Beautiful acoustic picking plays during the verses as singer Austin soulfully sings with a sense of longing and when that chorus hits it hits you right in the chest, His voice is incredible and his ability to convey the emotion he’s singing about is really quite impressive, The band is firing on all cylinders on this track. The guitar solo hits the mark doing what a great solo should do, bring the emotion in the technique. Honestly, we need more new power ballads, hats off to the band for this song.
“Tough” straddles a fine line between 70’s and 80’s hard rock with more of a lean into the latter stylistically, it’s got a great groove to it to get you moving.
“Hold The Line” starts out with a riff not far off of early Motley Crue, This reminds me a bit of that band meets Skid Row and Pretty Wild, Just a really street level rocker with some serious power and a lot of guitar pyrotechnics. I imagine this one goes over really well live.
It’s not often you come across a new band who is self releasing their first EP and have it sounding this good, Easily in the top best new releases I’ve heard so far this year.
8/10