If you’ve never heard of Boston rockers Crow Follow, “Sylvia Sez” is the perfect track for an introduction.
Killer guitar and saxophone work by Tim Sprague, Agent Judy and John Keegan emote classic rock vibes with some ska and punk sensibilities, creating a track with a nostalgic flavor that’ll leave you looking for more of this band to download.
It all starts with the lyrics. If you just read them, this track could have easily been a Bowling for Soup-esque Rock-Pop bop that ends in three minutes. Not here. In nearly eight minutes, you get a story of a girl many of us have met in one way or another during our lives, mixed with dueling vocalists, two distinct guitar tracks, a wonderful bass line by Jean Corella and consistent drums by L. Ramona Herboldsheimer.
The end result is a story through music.
“Sylvia says she’s gonna dye her hair
She’s tired of being red
Like all those other Girls
Sylvia says she’s going down to New York City
Bring down the darkness
As she walks that Boulevard.”
Lyrics like this just hit hard in a Shawn Mullins/E Street Band kind of way. For those of us who grew up in the late ‘90s post punk scene and listened to our parents vinyls of Springsteen and The Ramones, this song is like finding a record in your attic that you never knew existed. Make no mistake, it’s a special experience.
With its Classic rock/ska/punk and folk jives, “Sylvia Sez” is a great track that listens different every time. Between the excellent musicianship and multiple vocal tracks and saxophone, Crow Follow gives us something to get stuck in our heads this Winter.
So many musicians today have forgotten the art of telling a story through their work. Crow Follow’s effort here makes sure that the art of the storyteller is not forgotten.
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