TOP DOWN – Rough Roads – New LP

Recorded and produced by Fred Cole, his influence clearly felt from the beginning, he's even credited to cowriting some of the lyrics, but he also lets the band's own visions and sounds come through, szim's guitar showing both restraint and release, tension on the spring, bounce on the bumper after release on the struts, the production a mix of grit, spit and shine, stand out cuts like "She's Gone" and "Steer Me" clearly need to be cranked, Dead Moon an obvious influence but also and maybe even more so inspired by the leather-coated semi-youthful garage-pop sound of the Rats, the garage tag fitting here more than other recordings that carry that tag, sounding like it could have been recorded in a back lot garage, the door pried open, warm rain splashing in the smog, dirty fingernails intact, the feel of grease and oil and the hint of a breeze coming from under the crack in the door.  -- winch