Thursday, June 4, 2009

CD REVIEW: Evelyn Falls "Dirty Girl"


Evelyn Falls, "Dirty Girl"
Produced by Evelyn Falls

If Detroit is Rock City, then Windsor is at least Rockville (with apologies to REM). Whatever Detroit was brought up with - from Motown to the Stooges and beyond - Windsor has reciprocally absorbed and that is why I think Windsor has a untapped resource for local music diversity.

With that being said, it's surprising that Windsor hasn't taken as much advantage of its rock heritage as it perhaps should. It seems that indie rock and singer/songwriters such as Yellow Wood, Ron Leary, Michou, alternative rock such as Ashes of Soma, StereoGoesStellar and One Man's Opinion and metal like Fiftywatthead and Lodown have dominated the national circuits, while rock and roll seems to have become an afterthought.

Well, that is about to change. With bands like The Golden Eagles, Time and The Tree Streets releasing some exciting new releases and bringing full on rock shows back to the fore front, rock and roll is coming back in a big way.

Another band ready to unload their rock and roll is Evelyn Falls, who drop their new album, Dirty Girl, this Friday June 5th at The Chubby Pickle (762 Ouellette Ave.).

Dirty Girl is a 10 song offering, self produced with an honesty and raw approach that captures their sound perfectly. These guys aren't spending their nights trying to figure out some kind of new sound to change the face of music. Like so many of Windsor's most successful bands - Inoke Errati comes to mind - they aren't trying to re-invent the wheel. They're taking a tried and true highway and simply making a few of the side streets their own.

The guitars are monstrous and seem to encapsulate the sounds of both Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society) and Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), crossing the preverbial streams to make a bombastic tapestry around some gracefully melodic heavy rock and roll. The vocals are passionate (although they waver occassionally) and their honesty and passion is never in question.

I have to be honest - songs (and bands) like this are not exactly my cup of tea anymore. I spent many a year hunting for the latest guitar rock band in my youth but I definitely look for something with a bit more substance these days than sophomoric lyrics and big guitar swells, but Evelyn Falls have done something that few have done lately. Taken me back to a time when I didn't care what they were necessarily trying to preach and just rode the rock and roll riffs to a great night of partying with some good friends, bouncing along with the intensity and passion of the players and hoping I could sneak in the door at sunrise and not wake my parents.

Good to see rock and roll is still alive for all the right reasons.

Evelyn Falls CD Release Party at The Chubby Pickle (762 Ouellette Ave.), Friday June 5th

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