Without wanting to sound like sad music geeks, we didn’t have to look it up to know this was on the reliable SideOneDummy Records.
SideOne helped to break Gaslight Anthem and its stable of artists usually has that blue collar Springsteen punk rock ‘n’ roll feel to them. Serious musicians playing serious music to have a good time to.
New York band Timeshares are the latest signing to the label, which either loves this style of music and has cornered the market, or hopes to repeat the success of Gaslight Anthem.
Given that you can predict the sound of each song from the opening five seconds — gruff vocals, varying degrees of riffage and speed — Timeshares do a good job and we like this.
Opener State Line To State Line is one of the more melodic tunes, telling the new listener what to expect. It’s more Alabama boogie than New York rock, though it goes more Springsteen as it progresses. It’s music to cheer up a working man with a cold beer after a hard day.
Tail Light is faster and punkier, the snare sound turned up to hammer home the beat. The Bad Parts goes bit more alt rock / southern boogie.
What Timeshares lack in originally they make up for in authenticity and layered sound; it might not be the first time you’ve heard this but they do it well and there’s a lot going on, whether it’s tuneful hooks or punky drum fills. Its familiarity means you get into it pretty fast, too. One we’ll keep playing.