“Rosalie” (Curation Records)
By Eleni P. Austin
Dropping the needle on the new Silver Synthetic album is like being transported to a secret ‘70s AM Gold radio station. Returning to an era when songs by Mac Davis, Charlie Rich and Olivia Newton John happily coexisted alongside Blue Swede, Redbone and Abba.
The Louisiana four-piece formed in 2017 when Chris Lyons, guitarist and frontman for New Orleans-based Punk/Garage band, Bottomfeeders, began writing new music that expanded beyond his band’s primitive paradigm. Instead, he was leaning in a more Pop/Psychedelic direction, with hints of Country Rock.
With some assistance from Bottomfeeders drummer Lucas Bogner, the pair began shaping the new songs. Rather quickly, they recruited Kunal Prakash, guitarist from Jeff The Brotherhood and bassist Pete Campanelli to flesh out their sound. It started to feel less like a side project and more like a full-fledged band.
As Silver Synthetic, their first official gig happened in 2018 at a New Orleans record store. A friend recorded a few songs at the band’s rehearsal space and the songs created a buzz. They ended up signing with Jack White’s Third Man Records. Their four song EP, Out Of The Darkness, arrived at the end of 2019 and garnered positive reviews. Then an eponymous long-player was released the following April. A self-released single, “The Door” appeared in 2023, at that point, Ben Jones took over bass duties from Pete. Within a year, they inked a deal with Curation Records. Now they’re back with their sophomore effort, Rosalie.
The record opens tentatively as lonesome pedal steel lattices airy guitars, sepia-toned bass, shimmery keys and a brawny backbeat. Chris’ boyish croon wraps around lyrics that seem to address our current state of dis-union: “There’s no one left to impress, you can stand naked in your own mess, it’s the age of infamy, put it all down and watch the world with me…. can’t believe anything these days, seems it’s gonna lift off and blow away, all the drivers lost control, there’s blood on the tracks ‘cross this whole wide world.” A willowy solo sails across the break, ahead of the wild, thin and mercurial pedal steel that sidles between verses before colliding with more muscular guitars on the song’s coda.
Three tracks unfurl in succession offering up a crash course on Silver Synthetic’s aural aesthetic. On the anthemic “Yr Gonna Be Happy,” sprightly guitars envelope slippery bass lines and a driving back-beat. The melody shares some musical DNA with The Grateful Dead’s monster hit, “Touch Of Grey,” and like that touchstone, the effervescent arrangement belies a sad-sack saga. As a romantic relationship frays at the seams, lyrics paint a rancorous portrait: “You’ll feel better than you did before, you had less now you’re getting more, now you think you wanna get away, commit a sin now you’ll have to pray, one to seven, oh my god, you’re back to one lonely lightning rod,” before adding a backhanded mea culpa: “You know I’m doing all I can, don’t make me feel like I don’t understand, I’m working with my own two hands, don’t make me feel like your love is a sham now.” A coltish guitar solo sidelines the tsuris, as frisky pedal steel runs dart through the mix.
If it were possible for the Allman Brothers and Big Star to create a musical love child, it might sound a lot like “Choose A Life.” Stacked, Dixie-fried guitar licks, elastic bass lines and wily keys are tethered to a galloping gait. Chris and Ben’s fresh-faced harmonies wrap around caustic lyrics that take an apathetic narcissist to task: “You’re locked in a box, I don’t like the way you talk, cause you’re always stretching truths about you/You’re living in a world with every boy and girl, and you’ll just be sitting on your hands when it’s over.”
Meanwhile, the title track is a low-key charmer that is powered by burnished guitars, keening pedal steel, flinty keys, wiry bass, and a kick-drum beat. Lyrics sketch out a tense scene of a relationship gone off the rails: “She has that look on her face, like something’s been misplaced, she’s only in it for the chase anyway, he’s got a feeling he’s been used, like a burn out busted fuse, they both know he’s born to lose, anyway.” Despite his entreaties to stay, Rosalie is halfway out the door. Guitars meander on the break, mirroring her wanderlust. Finally, a rapprochement is reached: “He packed it up and he changed his scene, he’s alright, Rosalie, she’s the queen of queens every night, they tried to sing the words, now it’s their only curse.”
There are a few tracks here that could sandwich nicely on a playlist that includes 10cc’s “I’m Not In Love, Starbuck’s “Moonlight Feels Right” and Todd Rundgren’s “A Dream Goes On Forever.” Jangly guitars, lithe pedal steel, vroom-y keys and pinwheeling bass line up with a rat-a-tat beat. Lyrics like “Don’t try to change the rules it’s no use, you can’t re-write the book on getting loose, get high, now boy get down, keep floating until you drown, red light, full moon, high life,” offer a variation on the Jackson Browne/Eagles “Take It Easy” ethos. A galumphing 12-string guitar solo on the break splits the difference between Roger McGuinn and Dick Dale “Cool Blue Night” is a bar band groover that matches sparkly guitar, pliant keys, nimble bass lines and a dapper beat to an opaque narrative about a damsel in distress. Cryptic lyrics like “Under the heavy moonlight she was drowning all of her fears, wishing upon the past to disappear,” are juxtaposed by a breezy arrangement that feature summery sax fills and lissome flute solos.
Finally, on “Back Home,” sinewy guitar riffs partner with crushed velvet keys, sly bass lines and a rattle-trap rhythm. A circumspect carpe diem, mordant lyrics look inward: “Think it’s time I sit down with myself, stop listening to everyone else, been living hard, but we never get an inch, feel like I’m dying when I fall in a ditch.” A sun-dappled guitar solo unspools on the break before a final epiphany: “And you know for everyone there comes a time, when they look back and they see time flying, yeah you know there’s nothing they can do, everyone’s gonna die alone but that’s nothing new.”
Other interesting tracks include the sunny strut of “Right Time,” which weds an impossibly hooky melody and arrangement to an account of domestic abuse. Then there’s the dashed expectations of “Only Time,” which blends hushed harmonies, squiggly guitars, moody Mellotron and a kinetic beat.
The album closes with the one-two punch of “Happy Ever After” and “Say The Wrong Word.” The former is a caffeinated rocker that’s fueled by ping-ponging guitars, stuttery bass, vinegary keys and a crackling beat. Trenchant lyrics take aim at a glib go-getter whose facile façade is beginning to exhibit some cracks: “Buy the house, get the car, have a kid, sit by the fire, call mom and dad, pay the bills then retire, I don’t know, you have to show me who you think you are, your success is just a mess, you’re topping the charts. Angular, rapid-fire riff-age synchronize between each verse before flanged and phased guitars Psychedelicize the break.
The latter takes it’s cues from ‘70s AOR and L.A.’s Paisley Underground scene. Rippling guitars connect with polychromatic keys, rubbery bass and a thwoking beat. Lyrics like “What purpose are you given, something you don’t believe in, spend your whole life looking for a god” search for meaning but come up empty handed. Dueling lead guitars uncoil on the break alternately spiraling and soaring. Despite the lyrical diffidence, it ends the album on a high note.
Silver Synthetic, with some superstar assists from Luke Schneider on pedal steel, Rex Gregory on saxophone and flute and backing vocals courtesy Morgan Connors, has successfully sidestepped the dreaded sophomore slump. Rosalie is a smorgasbord of laid-back grooves that are a little bit Country and a whole lot of Rock & Roll, front-loaded with sublime Pop hooks. Sure-footed and sanguine, it’s the perfect hang.
