FRESHWATER COLLINS' LEAN BACK

Most bars in America are magic. Somehow, they possess the ability to freeze time and evolution. The patrons are stuck in that odd era of the Nineties, where all the guys had wet hair and leather jackets, and the girls still hadn’t ditched perms and bangs. The decor is Big Ten collegiate. And the music,.. oh, the music.
Bar rock is a pet peeve of mine. You know what I’m talking about-- that happy-go-funky shit that all the frat boys love. Stuff that winds up being the opening act for The Dave Matthews Band or Hootie and the Blowfish. Bar rock bands usually consist of extremely talented musicians determined to preserve the spirit of Stevie Ray Vaughn in a really watered-down fashion. They don’t try and evolve. They just get more proficient at doing the same thing their entire careers.
I say all this because this is a CD review, and that was its segue.
Freshwater Collins' Lean Back was given to me with a lot of hype. I was told they were really good-- one of the best local bands around the Greater Milwaukee area. And, in all honesty, these boys can play their instruments with the best of them. Unfortunately, I listened to the disc three times through, and had no idea when one song ended and another began. They all kinda sounded the same. It was all run-of-the-mill bar rock-- kinda funky, kinda bluesy, kinda rocky-- especially when it came time to sing the chorus, every time. They weren’t really captivating me with the lyrics, either.
Hear it for yourself at freshwatercollins.com. Maybe this is exactly what you look for in a band. But there has to be something more interesting out there.
PURCHASE THIS OR SIMILAR ITEMS