Sometimes I feel like I’m a ruined vinyl, one of the ones the stylus keeps repeating, the famous “broken record”. Why do I say this? Because I will repeat for the umpteenth time that in Texas there is something magical (nowadays in all senses), air, desert, forests, rivers, music, tornadoes and plains, hurricanes and rattlesnakes, cacti and immense distances. I don’t know which mix allows the art of music to be so prosperous and qualitative, but even for this boy native of Denton, TX is worth the same speech made for the countless Texan artists I have dealt with and I came across. It’s not just about country (Kody West is not a country artist), as I mentioned before, the music here has various facets, there is blues, there is rock, modern psychedelia and usually in the musical palette of artists born here, there is a bit of all this. Who is more oriented to the blues, who to rock, who to folk, who to the outlaw country but everyone has a in their strings various influences and everyone has been on the street, have done the gavetta (even those who like Kody West participated in competitions). Here we start for tours in the bars very long, exhausting but that leave behind, if you value, many souls conquered that will be the flywheel of word-of-mouth that on social media and in subsequent clubs, that of requests to radio or streaming services. Here Kody West, after an excellent debut album (Green, 2017), after having increased his base of fans and also his experience and musical maturation, returns with this splendid work of 8 pieces that show us a very convinced artist, with a very recognizable sound ; we are certain that having shared the stage with the likes of Whiskey Myers and Charlie Robison made him much more confident in himself and his means. A rock that has a hint of red dirt, that sound from Oklahoma made famous by the legendary Cody Canada, a street rock with grunge flavor of the 90s in which the powerful and suffering voice of West is an absolute protagonist, like in the wonderful Loose Ends that starts the album in fourth. Scratchy riffs and latent melancholy or as in Breakdwon, where the guitar and the rhythm wrap around our ears and make us travel together with the singing on a dusty street of Texas where the sun would like to filter through the clouds and sometimes it succeeds. The most beautiful piece of the lot, for those who write to you but also for the more than 1 million listeners on Spotify, is definitely the rock ballad October, which after the melancholy opening becomes a beautiful piece of rock with a beautiful melody. Scratchy like the voice of the Texas boy, with that guitar sound that seems caught between the Cross Canadian Ragweed and the more melodic Nirvana. And what about the beautiful and exciting The Way? A piece that will satisfy the palates accustomed to melodic rock but not melenso, for listeners who want catchy but cultured music, quality at the service of a rock for connoisseurs and a rhythmic value. With this voice that creeps into the souls and leaves us that pleasant feeling of wanting to hear it immediately in the next song. There is also room for a beautiful acoustic and vocal piece, Short, in which the soul of country storytellers takes over, is still Texas. A very short but exciting and incisive song, almost to leave us that desire to hear the acoustic pieces of the boy on the net, could sing anything and be credible. To be noted without a doubt also the title track placed at the end of the work, with his guitar arpeggio that introduces the singing of Kody West, with that dreamy melody that leaves room for some spherical guitar works even here with a grunge flavor, as if Dave Grohl had taken a nice trip to Fort Worth and soaked his sound with the sun and dust of the desert, a song that should be heard over and over again to appreciate the nuances, the sound powerful and crystal clear, the pulsating rhythm and almost perfect production. A short record, that does not lose any note on the street, direct and recognizable that live will be the joy of the lucky people who will be able to see it. Don’t expect country this time, but a beautiful rock with dreamy and melancholic melodies, a record for a nice trip on a lonely road between the sun and clouds of dust. The immense reservoir of Texas talents is enriched by a boy who with his talent and commitment can now be counted among the best products of recent years.
Good listening,
Trex Willer by http://www.ticinonotizie.it
(you can find original italian article at this link : https://www.ticinonotizie.it/ascoltati-da-noi-per-voi-by-trex-roads-kody-west-overgrown-2020/ )
