The Stillroads - the stillroads

The Stillroads

The Stillroads
self-released; 2013

3.5 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

The Stillroads are a bunch of friends who have been playing music together since they first met in elementary school. They recently released their own self-produced and recorded self titled EP The Stillroads. Despite the minimal equipment it sounds pretty good despite some minor production issues. The songs are pretty straight pop/rock songs that borrow a lot from previous decades including the 50’s and 60’s. Some of the melodies remind me of something you might hear on an early Beatle record and other times I hear a hint from a 90’s alternative scene although it is hard to center on one particular band.

They start the EP off with “My Cloud 9.” Before knowing much about the band I thought they might be an experimental project as the minute is pretty much an ominous pad of sound where you can hear bells in the background. Without much warning you are treated to an extremely upbeat groove made through piano and various vocal harmonies.  They sing “Its alright, It’s Ok” and “cause I feel good, In my head, its’ all the same.” It’s a really catchy melody but had little to do with the first minute or so of music. 

“Camera Lens” goes straight into it with a Jimi Hendrix inspired blues riff on clean guitar. The song is a bit bogged down by the production but the chorus still shines when the vocal harmonies sing “Your breaking up, and i can't get much younger, talking to you dear -Your breaking up, as if i wanna hear, what you have to say, so im gonna go my way.” “Hello, My Gypsy Queen” was a decent song but not the strongest on the album while “Only An Average Song” was a bit better than just average. The EP ends with a slow number called “Elevator” that ties things up and displays another side of the band.

The Stillroads produced a solid debut that has well written but it sometimes suffers because of the quality. They have a good style and aren't writing material that is groundbreaking but they can write a tune.

bandcamp

official website