I was surprised to see
Widetrack mention prog-rock for their influences and genre, even while pairing
it with alternative. It made more sense after watching a video where two of the
band members declared their devotion to "yacht rock".
This includes a specific
appreciation for the "Yacht Rock" video series, but also the smooth
soft rock of the seventies, when hits on the radio were good and not ruined by
MTV.
My pet peeve of bands
being more adept at trashing more popular work than praising what they like has
been getting aggravated more and more frequently lately anyway. Here that was
combined with a sense of unease based on the mismatch in age between the
musicians featured. It seemed odd, though they were united in their belief of
what you should seek out if you were into music or comedy at all.
There were only two, Ron
and Zach, featured in the video, but the band appears to have at least one and
probably two other people. Again, they do not do a good job of defining
themselves, especially in ways other than oppositional.
The music is not bad. It
does not sound particularly like Christopher Cross either, despite their
appreciation for him. I could believe that they were influenced by Rush, but
the more pressing issue is how the songs seem to blur into each other. This is
again something that could indicate that the band has not really found their
identity yet. Is it a bad sign that their album names are Widetrack and Widetrack II?
"Lazicarus"
caught my attention every time it came on, so that is probably the starting
place to find an interest in the band. Instead, there are so many things that
are off-putting that I am not making a recommendation to check out the band,
unless you were a big fan of the "Yacht Rock" series. Then there
would be a strong match in sensibilities that might work out.
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