AM Crush – ‘Miles Apart’
(Independent)
AM Crush is comprised of the experienced American Duo of vocalist Bob Malone and multi-instrumentalist Paul Alfrey. Anyone who keeps abreast of the underground melodic rock scene will be aware of a lot of these guys previous work with the likes of Farcry, Malone, Dark Mile and Walk The Walk.
So, it will not surprise you to learn that ‘Miles Apart’ is straight ahead Eighties inspired melodic rock! I think Malone and Alfrey’s experience shines through in their song writing, they know what works and these compositions are well put together for maximum effect. It feels like the aim of the song writing was to write an album that felt like it came out in the mid-eighties, whether that’s the case or not that is exactly what they achieved. I genuinely feel I could hand someone this album and say this is from back in the day and they would totally believe me!
Admittedly AM Crush give us nothing new and the style of these songs is retro but it genuinely is the sort of thing melodic rock fanboys devour and ask for more of, no matter how uncool that attitude may be to serious music connoisseurs. It’s also clearly American sounding and definitely sits in well with softer melodic rock acts of the mid-eighties, like Bon Jovi and Alice Cooper (Trash/Hey Stoopid era). So, fans of that specific era and bands will really enjoy this album.
Malone has a great voice perfect for this style and again I think his experience shows with his performances and how he delivers these songs in a way he knows will appease fans and certainly evoke a lot of nostalgia in people.
Alfrey who I assume performs all the instrumentation does a great job of creating some very memorable musical hooks and uplifting soundscapes again I feel experience giving him the knowledge of what people enjoy within this genre.
Between them AM Crush have created some very memorable and catchy songs like ‘Run’ and ‘Shout It Out Loud’!
‘Miles Apart’ is an upbeat collection of feel-good melodic rock that I can highly recommend genre fans to take some time to check out, you won’t be disappointed. Musically AM Crush are stuck in 1985 but that ain’t no bad thing as far as I’m concerned and I know lots of people who will agree with me and eat this album up with relish!
7/10
Essential Track - 'Run'
Review By Woody
