Everything comes back into style again. You’ve seen it with bellbottoms, sideburns etc. Hell, maybe being fat and bald will come back too, and then even I’ll be hip. Well, for now I’ll settle for a return to classic sounds. Like finding the prize in the cereal box, I love when a great 70’s-style sound comes full circle and tickles those little bones in my ears. This brings me to the offering from FLYIN' RYAN BROTHER Jimmy Ryan and his killer trio TRUTH SQUAD.

In the liner notes, Ryan sings the praises of his favorite 70’s heavyweights HUMBLE PIE, WISHBONE ASH, and THIN LIZZY, and this frisbee finds him worshipping these bands as well as expanding horizons to bring modern production values and expressive songwriting to the table.

The Good: Overall, there's lots of great tuneage. It's a great mix of music, with vocals used to compliment the songs, not rule over them. Ryan sometimes sounds like a young Andy Powell, and sometimes a two-pack-a-day Scott Weinrich. The lead work here is consistently amazing, never pretentious, and easy on the ear. Incidentally, the entire record was recorded live in the studio, to capture the feeling of that flow on the go. Ryan's style is fluid and laid back to the point that he could make mistakes, bend 'em right back into the zone and we'd never be the wiser. The skill of drummer Johnny Mrozek to follow the leads while maintaining the beat is flawless, and bassist Bill Kopeck rumbles and noodles along recalling some of those great power trio bass players of old. Songs like the instrumental “Road Raga”, and “Heaven Sent” could find themselves at home on a WISHBONE ASH record. “Trick Bag” gets a little jazzier, with Kopecky's bass taking the front seat. “Big Bang” shows some reverence to 80’s chops, nodding to a little more metal style without being cheesy.

The Bad: Where did “Cassanova” come from? This sticks out here like a sore thumb. The song has great guitar, awesome leads, but comes through with some kind of white-boy rap storytelling thing that, along with the quasi-funk music is a real turn-off. The last song, “Cranberry Golden Green” is a little too strawberry-fields-meets-HR Pufnstuf for me, lacking enough meat and potatoes to go with Kopecky's bass lines.

As we work to cleanse the world of heartless, emotionless rock music, this is a great start. I will look forward to more from these guys in the future. TRUTH SQUAD along with SUPAFUZZ and MASTERS OF REALITY are making a case for the return of glorious, nasty 70s guitar rock.

- Murtaugh

OFFICIAL SITE: www.ryanetics.com

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