Oh, great, the reader might be thinking... another boy band. Guess again, Stumpy.
Baltimore's SR-71 is the kind of band who would pick up the
members of 'NSync, snap them in two and pick their teeth with them.
This is a band whose main focus is rock and roll, pure and
simple... and the fact they have pin-up good looks is just a side
item. Their debut disc
Now You See Inside is an exciting chunk of rock to come this
way in some time, and is a welcome birth cry from lead
vocalist/guitarist Mitch Allen and crew.
It's not often I pick up a CD that is so much fun to listen to from the first note almost all the way through the final fade-out. Now You See Inside is one such disc. From the opening declaration, "I don't mean to piss you off with things I might say" in "Politically Correct," the listener knows this band means business, and also knows how to deliver the goods in the most efficient method possible. The band - Allen, guitarist/vocalist Mark Beauchemin, bassist/vocalist Jeff Reid and drummer/vocalist Dan Garvin - all lay down a musical groove that you won't want to stop.
Tracks such as "What A Mess," "Fame (What She's Wanting)," "Another Night Alone" and "Last Man On The Moon" all demonstrate that SR-71 is no mere flash in the pan. No, these four young men are musicians and songwriters, first and foremost, and they prove that they've poured their all into these 11 songs. Only the album's final track, "Paul McCartney" (which is guaranteed to stir up the "Paul is dead" rumors again), stumbles a little bit - but that's still one amazing track record.
Now You See Inside might not be given a fair chance, though, because people might not be able to get past the image of the band and get to the music to see just how tasty it is. To them, I say: too bad you don't know what you're missing. SR-71 might be a young band, but musically they have a level of maturity that one rarely sees in the industry, being able to be serious as well as funny when the time calls for it. And it's so addictive, you'll probably want to glue down the "repeat" button on your CD player.
SR-71 is a band who deserve to be appreciated for their musical ability - something that Now You See Inside proves they have a lot of. Here's hoping this is just the first of a long series of killer releases from this band, and that people give them the chance that SR-71 proves they so richly deserve.