Car of the Future is a rock trio based out of Detroit and Chicago. The band is led by guitarist/singer/songwriter Paul Priest with James Simonson (bass) and Greg Fundis (drums) rounding out the lineup. While the three have been longtime collaborators in various projects and combinations, the eponymous Car of the Future EP is their maiden voyage as a trio.
They tell us their EP aims to attract “listeners out there who are into staying with an album as it deliberately weaves around a musical landscape.” Across the four tracks, there is a definite arc to the music with feels and sounds working their way across the cuts. You’re definitely rewarded for listening to this as an album; as a set of singles, it’s not as coherent--it isn’t meant to be. For instance, contrast the opening track “Day Trader” with the second “Hacker.” “Day Trader” is a down-home shuffle-boogie blues that draws you in like a fun ZZ Top record with Priest laying down solid acoustic and electric-guitar solos. The riff-y bridge lands somewhere around Lynyrd Skynyrd. “Hacker” on the other hand is a metal instrumental. It features detuned, evil riffs and is heavy with doublings and octave pedals. The song works, but it isn’t necessarily what was expected after the first cut. And how does Car of the Future follow the metal evilness? Well, with the plucky acoustic start and high-register melodic bass lines of “Life Turned On.” It’s a curveball, but then the distorted guitars work their way in, hinting at the metal of “Hacker.” After a swoop-y, spacey keyboard solo, the metal feel comes back full-on, with a ripping wah-wah guitar solo over pounding riffs. A nice turnaround section morphs the song into a bit of prog-rock. While a written review may make this sound disjointed, Car of the Future pulls it off, with all of these elements flowing smoothly from one to the next. So of course they cap the album with “Make the Morning,” a pop song with a Grateful Dead feel. The track picks up on the acoustic ideas started in “Life Turned on” and introduces layered vocals and a major-key tonality that evokes ‘70s-era Laurel Canyon. The prog-rock elements get a reprise during the guitar solo, especially Priest’s choice of tone (including the octave pedal again) and some doubling on the keyboard. As a standalone section, these parts work in the song, but make much more sense as a continuation of themes from the earlier tracks. Car of the Future achieved their goal with their debut EP, taking their listener on a coherent journey across a diverse set of musical styles, all in under twenty minutes. Well done, gentlemen, and we look forward to your next set.
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