Cardboard Spaceships & A Rock Candy Voice
Drop Cruiser by Rocking Chair
Drop Cruiser by Rocking Chair starts off with a song called “Preprise”, the name of which I don’t think I’ll ever get over. It has this sort of fuzzy quality to it, similar to the feeling of static electricity you get when turning on an old box television. It made me think of the little tags that played on the radio before Casey Kasem would introduce the top hits of the week back in the ‘70s! In my opinion, the radio metaphor works well for Drop Cruiser because it’s an eclectically exciting album, one that could play fit any radio show ever created due to the difference from track to track, and that’s something truly special.
Transitions between songs are nearly seamless throughout this album, something that always gives an album extra credit in my book. The switch between “Preprise” and the second track “Let Me Tell Ya” is a great example of this, because not only does it flow easily, but it’s also enhanced by the fact that the guitar is very similar in both tunes. “Let Me Tell Ya” is a heavy sort of song. Heavy vocals, heavy bass, heavy drums — the thing that makes this track perfect is that these heavy elements are lifted by the guitars, which go on and on in a never ending wave of a melody. The bass in this song swerves in the best way possible, resembling the sound that frogs make in the nighttime. About halfway through, the song switches from a ruminating level to a drown out level, the kind that forces any thoughts away and eases your mind, wrapping all the tough emotions in the sheer power of the music. “Let Me Tell Ya” has the repetitive basis of a impromptu jam with the overall quality of a greatly polished song. The track has a lot of raw emotion within it, something that adds even more value to an already very valuable tune.
Track three is called “Daddy & I”, and I knew it would be a standout for me from this album from the very beginning. A big reason for this is something I like to call the “new day snippet”, a musical phenomenon that occurs for about one second of a song. It consists of this reverse-y guitar sound that always sounds like a reset to me, always makes me see the sun rising up in the sky after a long night. The song itself has a bright, optimistic feel to the chord progression that is juxtaposed by the lyrics and the vocals. There’s a lower voice that takes charge in the song, but there’s this higher octave mirror that sits just behind it in the mix. This higher voice relays the emotion that the lower voice can’t, similar to how one’s inner monologue is separate from what you see on the outside. “Daddy & I” is one of the best on the album, with existential lyrics, a nice balance between acoustic & electric guitar, and of course, a damn near perfect rhythm section.
Following this song is the second single off of Drop Cruiser, a sweet track called “Summoning Frogs”. This is a song that sounds like it’ll lift you into the sky in a cardboard spaceship, cheesy as it seems. The quickness of the chords is impressive, a fevered determination that drives the energy of the song up, up, and away! The percussion on this song is unique and refreshing, and the little falling string parts are exactly the type of detail that I live for in a song.
Track nine, “Honey Eyes”, was the very first song I ever heard from Rocking Chair, and it was one of those love-at-first-listen songs that I’ve been playing nonstop ever since. It’s more acoustic than the other songs, and I think it’s a perfect introduction to their sound, because you really get the basics in a bite-size package. One of the things I love most about “Honey Eyes” is the quality of the lead vocal. I’ve nicknamed it as a rock candy voice, since it’s sweet and smooth, but has a rough around the edges quality that makes it so endearing.
A big standout for me from Drop Cruiser was the second to last track, lucky number thirteen. I’ve always loved segment songs, and this one might be one of the best versions of exactly that. “Shade” begins with a soundscape that employs quick chords to surround the listener, something that reminds me a lot of the beginning of Simon & Garfunkel’s “El Condor Pasa”. After that, a guitar begins picking this beautiful chord progression, one that is intense and gorgeous and seems predictable, but switches up at the snap of a finger. Subtle percussion works wonders on this track, and I also liked how the vocals sound just slightly strained, like how your voice sounds when you’re upset and your throat is tight. It fits well with the theme of the song. The thing that made me fall in love with “Shade” is the ending. When taking notes the first time I listened, I wrote “I love the ending in all caps and bold and like ten exclamation points”. Let me make that a reality right here, with an extra exclamation point for good measure. I LOVE THE ENDING!!!!!!!!!!! Some songs would leave you hanging, build and build and never actually reach a peak, just lower you back down. But “Shade” gets loud and intense, the type that matches and challenges anything you put up to it.
Drop Cruiser is an amazing debut album from Rocking Chair, one that double-checks all the boxes, creates new boxes, and double-checks those as well. No matter what kind of music you like, you’ll find something to enjoy on Drop Cruiser, I guarantee it.
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