To be honest I wasn’t sure what to make of 7 MILES TO PITTSBURGH when they first hit my inbox. My initial reaction was, “Not a fan of the name, so let’s see what’s going on musically.” I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Andrew Elt was on vocals, because he used to front a band I loved back in the day, SLEEZE BEEZ. I was lucky enough to catch them on a hot Friday night at Sundance back in 1990, but I digress. This current group plays rock and roll, combining the sounds of yesterday and today. The vintage organ sound courtesy of keyboardist Remco van Zandvoort permeates a lot of the tracks and it goes well with Joris Lindnor’s guitars. This is especially true during “Olympus,” one of the better tracks on new album Revolution On Hold.
“I Feel Your Pain” has a distinct LED ZEPPELIN feel to it, not surprising since Elt also performs in a Led Zep tribute band named PHYSICAL GRAFFITI. That said, it’s a great song with one fiery guitar solo. Through all of this the rhythm section of bassist Martin Helmantel and drummer Dirk Bruinenberg are locked in and providing some thick-ass bottom end. We get a taste of prog with “Sound,” while opener “Bad Enough” straddles the line between old and new rock The band lets it all hang out during “Think” which is another fine cut that also boasts some nice work on the keys from van Zandvoort.
“God Only Knows” pairs clean guitars with a passionate vocal from Elt, while “Time” heads straight back to rocking territory. Once again Lindnor’s guitars are in the driver’s seat, as they are for much of the record. Overall this is a pretty solid record. The only tracks I wasn’t sold on were “Brave New World” and closer “Only a Fool.” It’s not that they’re bad, they just didn’t do anything for me. Still, 7 MILES TO PITTSBURGH have shown serious potential with album number two. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Revolution on Hold is out now on A67 Records. Pick it up and see whatcha think.
STANDOUT TRACKS: “Think”, “I feel Your Pain”, “Olympus”
RATING: 8/10
