Sweat – Who Do They Think They Are? [RED VINYL] - New LP

2023 Pittsburgh , but clearly heavily influenced by the airbrushed pomp rock of the second half of the 1970s, with the influences of the contrasting styles of the early 1980s and early 1970s showing up.  It seems a mix of mockery and respect of those influences, completely immersed and committed to that style, completely over the top with silly lyrics and instrument breaks a plenty but delivered with complete conviction, clearly more on the side of respect of its influences, and certainly not just parody, which separates this band from the endless stream of so many mediocre and truly awful bands from the past 3 decades.  The description says "drawing influence from the likes of Deep Purple and The Moody Blues, The Who, and Heart," but while maybe the title of album (Who Do They Think They Are?) is a nod to Deep Purple 50 years earlier (Who Do We Think We Are?), if Purple is an influence, this is somewhere halfway between Purple and the Carpenters (but I might just make that comparison because one of female vocalists is also the drummer.)  The vocals help point out that Heart is probably the closest comparison, this taking parts of the Wilson sisters 1980s' material and mixing it with elements from their early works.  -- winch 

.  Debut Album from Pittsburgh-Based Swiss American Quartet