BY: DIGITAL WAX MEDIA STAFF
Rock disciples, OVERHAUL have delivered their newest collection of tunes, the highly anticipated Time Flies By, officially released this month through TLG Rock/Virgin Music.
The band kicks things off with the appropriately invigorated “I Don’t Think You Know Me.” Powerful, ringing chords set the stage for the vocals to make their way into the proceedings. Once the drums kick in we’re off and running. The punchy, driving rhythms and behemoth hooks to come essentially shift us into Cheap Trick territory.
It’s a fitting introduction for the latest offering from one of the last true rock and roll bands operating on any significant scale. OVERHAUL has been diligently flying the rock flag since the band’s inception back in 1997. What this year’s long-awaited full-length from the group accomplishes is very much in line with the group’s modus operandi: to offer pounding drums, catchy guitar hooks, and fist-raising vocals in the form of exceptional modern rock jams.
At eleven tracks and 41 minutes, Time Flies By offers listeners plenty in which to sink their proverbial teeth. The batch of singles preceding the album – “Happy Little Rocker,” “Whoop It Up,” and “A Problem’s Just a Problem” crop up early on back to back (“Spanish Lilt” is retained as the closing cut).
The power of the sound persists through the duration of Time Flies By. “Your Words” evokes the early seventies while the title track, “I Try,” and “My Brighter Day” land like lost singles from the Foo Fighters’ classic era.
What OVERHAUL manages to accomplish with Time Flies By is deceptively simple in terms of achievements. By admission told the band members themselves, they never set out to reinvent the wheel. There is a purity to the group’s aim to craft hard-hitting rock and roll that channels a bygone era in music.
It can be tougher than it seems to avoid the pitfalls of the saccharine the whims of industry influencers. But OVERHAUL retains a steadfast commitment to one thing: rock and roll. To say there’s something honorable about that notion would be an understatement.
Time Flies By is available to stream now on all major platforms.
Digital Wax 