simply stunning
If you're one of the (very) lucky few who managed to catch Summers live performance at the recent ZRock festival in Bilston - I say lucky as, a) hardly any fecker attended the stellar line up of bands, and b) the schedule was fucked about with so much on the Sunday, your average punter would need they psychic skills of Doris Stokes to know that they were going to play an hour earlier than intended!
Those who were lucky enough to see this young AOR-tastic band were left with a nice warm fuzzy feeling at the end of their set. You see, Summers are one of THE BEST melodic rock bands to come out of Southampton (nah), the South Coast (double nah!), the UK!
It's inevitable that this band, which let's face it, are way to young to be writing shit hot AOR songs, and will be tagged with all plaudits that lead firmly to Sheffield and Def Leppard comparisons. But they say if it aint broke, don't fix it, Summers make no apology whatsoever for being a 21st Century Leppard. A 80s sounding Leppard in the name of Summers is better than the current actual Leppard. On the evidence of the first few listens of 364, this album is that strong it could have been written by Def Leppard any time between 1980-1984. This alone tells you how much I love this album, and know doubt you will one once you get your mitts on this potential future classic
Summers get their name for the 2 founding brothers Crash (Vox) and Ricky (Bass & BVs) Summers. Making up the band are Jase (Guitar & BVs), Joedy Rose (Guitar & BVs), and Andy Pope (Drums & BVs)
It's almost Def Leppard by numbers - for Steal Away, read Animal, for Tool Late, read When Love and Hate Collide. This isn't criticism here, its high praise indeed
Opening track, Catch Me is a catchy as baseball covered in molasses. With a chorus that gets you immediately hooked, it's as clear as day that Summers have a talent for all things melodic. Crash is as close to 80s Joe Elliot than a 80s Joe Elliott is to Joe Elliott!! I know what I'm talking about - I think! All the guys chip in with BVs and that itself is a beautiful thing. I'm a sucker for 4 & 5 part harmonies, and few can muster such quality like Summers have here
All the tracks on offer have been written with maximum enjoyment to the listener, catchy hooks, great solos, even greater choruses. The production for an unsigned band makes them seem more like a stadium band. This could surely be a target for them given the right circumstances
The only question is whether or not this style of melodic rock has had its day. Certainly AOR/Melodic Rock has had its day, but currently the resurgence and demand in melodic rock (take Glee for example) is a high a stock rating as it's had since the early 90s and that's not a bad thing. I certainly hope that there is a future for Summers out there as a damn site more people deserve to hear music of this unparalleled quality. Someone needs to get off their fat arse and sign this band up, and NOW. 364 is infinitely better than most of the stuff I've heard the past couple of years, from new or established bands.
I beg you to catch Summers when they return to The Robin 2 in August on their own headline gig. I'll be the one offering refunds if you aren't in agreement with how good they are live