Almost every artist treading the boards today is trying to push the envelope unnecessarily.Or so it would seem. Obviously, music has to move on, but as it does, we should at least acknowledge that some pretty cool music has preceded us, and, in the case of the rock genre, at least, it might have found its perfect form decades ago. I’m trying to say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” It is an adage that seems close to the heart of FLORIDA.
In an effort to capture the feeling of isolation that the band experienced growing up in the state that bears their name in the 1970s and 1980s, Metal Detector embraces some of the music of those decades as a reference point, resulting in old-school rock and roll for a new age. I’m not accusing them of plundering past glories or plagiarising what has gone before, of course not, but they have managed to weave that era’s more innocent and easy-going ways through their contemporary musical DNA.
Before the music world fractured into so many unnecessary sub-genres, all the alt-this and post-that we now find everywhere we look, rock and pop, weren’t that far removed from each other. It is this mix of rock’s groove and drive balanced with pop’s hook and infectiousness that makes Metal Detector so good. This isn’t rock music full of bravado and bombast, power and pout; this is rock music that wants to make you dance, groove, boogie, flip and wig, cut a rug or whatever the cool kids call it these days.
In short, this is no style-over-substance rock salvo, nor is it a throwaway pop outing. This is music that has style AND substance. Remember when that was a thing? FLORIDA certainly does.
