Vintage Trouble
1 Hopeful Rd

“And who the hell are these guys now?” This is probably the first thought that crossed your mind while scrolling through the home page, and because of this, surely many won't even stop by to give this kind of review a glance. The “Vintage Trouble”, with their very “vintage” name indeed, were born 5 years ago in Hollywood, California. To date, they have released 2 very interesting albums, and the one I am about to present to you today is their second record, which came out a few months ago. It should be noted that, despite the whole band doing an excellent job, the real phenomenon of the band is the singer Ty Taylor, endowed with a unique blues timbre that makes all the songs captivating thanks to his extraordinary voice.

This 1 Hopeful Rd has a structure very similar to their debut album (The Bomb Shelter Session), namely a strong start, then sweet ballads (almost never trivial), here come the tracks that make you tap your foot, and so on.

The album opens with the energetic “Run Like the River”. The guitar sounds a lot like “In My time of Dying” by, no, do I really have to write the band? Anyway, the track is among the best of the lot with excellent work especially from Richard Danielson on the drums. It continues with the very sweet “From My Arms” which oozes with romance and the scent of another time. Taylor's perfect voice is put in the foreground compared to the instruments. The track is very beautiful, although for many, it might seem “boring” on first listens. The following “Doin what You Were Doin’” is another ballad, more upbeat than “From my Arms” with Taylor shining and also noteworthy is Nalle Colt's excellent, brief yet effective solo. Here comes the rock n roll with “Angel city, California”, which demonstrates how the band is comfortable both with slow pieces and more rhythmic ones. Another noteworthy track is the semi-ballad “My Heart Won't Fall Again”, where Ty Taylor showcases his extraordinary voice once again, as does Nalle Colt, perfect on the guitar. The best track on the album, in my opinion, is “Strike Your Light”. After a drum roll, here comes the guitar making its entrance, with a rhythm typical of the '60s. The track is intense, and standing still is practically impossible. Other noteworthy tracks are “If You Loved Me” and “Another Baby”. The first is a ballad notable for Taylor's superb work, while with the second, you start tapping your foot again.

In conclusion, we have a blues album that sounds damn good, even today in 2015. Perhaps this “Hopeful” is a tad inferior to the debut album; actually, we can easily remove the perhaps, but it's a great album nonetheless. It's also worth noting that live, they are deadly, devastating, well use whatever adjective you want, but the sense remains the same. I speak from personal experience since I had the opportunity to see them in July, so I know what I'm talking about. A band with an already decent present and a bright future ahead!