One discussion that comes up in musical circles from time to time is the question of the difference between rock ‘n’ roll and its more bombastic younger sibling, rock music. Well, if this were a court of law, I would label Harley DiNardo’s latest track Exhibit A.
‘LA to NY’ gets down to what was lost when rock, a music style that seems often played by big bearded men in big shorts making an unnecessarily big noise, came of age. Rock music might have big, though often dense and monolithic, guitar work, pounding drums, and shouty lyrics; often so earnestly delivered that they sound like Sisyphus struggling to roll that rock up the hill, which is probably fine for impressionable teenagers. But, as evidenced here, what they left behind in the transition was drums that swing, guitars that riff, often spaciously, grit and groove working together, tunes able to flex both muscle and melody, singalong vocals and a sound that has swagger and seduction and fun and boogie-ability.
Listen to ‘LA to NY’ and you not only hear all that: guitars are lowslung, players strut across the stage, basses are buoyant, lush harmonies follow DiNardo’s lead, the light gets in, the melodies are infectious, and everything has room to breathe, but you hear the legacy of such stalwarts as The Rolling Stones, John Mellencamp and The Black Crowes being carried forward into the modern age.
There’s a reason why Billy Joel famously sang “it’s still rock AND roll to me”, you know what I mean?
