Jeremy Poland and Lantz Dale Timeless Soul Review by Gary Hill
This kind of soft rock based pop music is the kind of thing that really works on top 40 radio. These guys are more authentic and talented than most of the acts delivering this kind of stuff on radio. If there is any kind of justice in the music business these days, this act should be played on pop radio. All that said, as an EP this is moderately strong. Don't get me wrong, most of the songs, individually, are very good. It's just that everything has a tendency to sound the same. That makes it hard for each piece to show a unique identity. Still, most fans of this kind of music tend to listen to one or two songs, not a whole release. So, that's probably a moot point.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2017 Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
All Yours Now
Guitar starts this. There is a classy kind of pop element at play here. Yet, there is also some real rock or even country charm built into it. This is a slow moving balladic cut in this first effective portion. The chorus later, though, is a bit too processed and purely modern pop oriented. It's kind of a cheap approach, feeling a little gimmicky. These guys seem to have too much talent to need to resort to that kind of thing to get heard. Still, even that is pretty strong.
In The Light A mellower cut still, this is more of a folk meets modern sounding number. It avoids the kind of musical cliches heard on the opener. That makes this a very strong piece of music.
All Over Again There is a bit of a reggae element to the bouncy musical element here. This is pop music through and through, though. It's catchy and actually one of the best tunes here.
I'm A Wreck Another pop tune, there are no big changes here. This is just another effective piece cut from similar cloth.
Where Did It Go This energized tune is another classy pop song. Standing by itself, it's really strong. The problem with the set is that everything sounds a bit too similar. That keeps it from standing as tall as it should. That's a shame, too, because this is one of the best songs here.
Sunday Afternoon A fairly mellow tune, this has some good melodies. Again, though, it suffers from the monolithic element here.
Timeless Soul Here we get a catchy tune. This manages to stand pretty tall even amidst the rest. I like the balance between mellower and more rocking stuff. This has some of the best moments of the whole album, really. In fact, I'd say that it's the best song here.
