WELCOME TO THE FREAKROOM

Quite interesting debut album by this american band. I wasn´t expecting much, so I was a bit surprised: they do sound retro, no doubt about it. In fact, the two first songs, Shadow circus and Storm rider seem like something recorded by Styx or Kansas in the late 70´s, apart from the vocal lines, but they are heading in the right way. Lead singer David Lawrence Bobick has a very different voice than what we would expect from a prog band, more suited to early 70´s outfits like Cactus or Faces. While the keyboards are quite progressive (the Hammond organ parts sounding uncanny like Uriah Heep in the very beginning), John Fontana´s guitar is definitly influenced by the hard rock/blues style of the american bands of that decade.

The album is very well produced and the band knows how to write some good stuff. Their combination of different styles work well most of the time, even if Bobick´s voice is a bit aquiring the taste. The two last tracks, with their late 60´s/early 70´s style are more suited for him, even if In The Wake Of A Dancing Flame is a bit monotonous. Radio People shows their more poppish, whimsical side. The tracklist is a bit uneven, but Shadow Circus is surely on its way to find their very own sound already. A nice surprise.

All in all I found Welcome To The Freakroom to be good, if not essential. And the band is very promising.