Steve Adamyk Band – Graceland

This is the fifth album from Canadian power pop quartet, the Steve Adamyk Band, the band backing the prolific Steve Adamyk seems to be in a constant state of flux, on this release his band includes members of Sonic Avenues, it also features guest vocals from Colleen Green and Mike Krol. Graceland follows on from 2014’s Dial Tone and continues single mindedly down the same path as it’s predecessors, this is a fast and furious slab of power pop punk that doesn’t relent for almost it’s entirety.

This bare bones production conveys the bands music well, the guitars are frantically strummed and the whole album has the feeling of a band who are racing against time to get the album finished. The first eleven tracks are all cut from the same cloth, the frenzied power pop songs tend to blur into each other a bit at times but regardless of this, Graceland remains a highly enjoyable stimulant induced soundtrack. The album ends in a more experimental frame of mind, the penultimate track High Mile is a fine piece of fuzzy garage rock, as is the hidden bonus track Heyday.

From a personal viewpoint I’d like to have heard a bit more experimentation to break up the barrage of power pop, as it is the tracks that offer something different are all bunched up at the end of Graceland, but having said that this is fine frenetic album of power pop and garage rock. If you could harness the energy on display on Graceland then I reckon the Steve Adamyk Band could solve the worlds fuel crisis singlehandedly, to underline this point apparently a sixth album is already in the pipeline, I’ll have some of whatever Steve Adamyk is having.

The Steve Adamyk Band bandcamp can be found here

Graceland will be released on July 29th 2016 and can be ordered from that date, as Dirtnap Records don’t do pre-orders, here